Out of the Refuge
by Reffy
Summary: Reffy was the only girl living with the Manhattan newsboys. Jack helped her escape from the Refuge and always kept his eye on her. She had her troublemaker best friend, her respected reputation, and loved her life. Jealousy, however, changes everything.
1. Gettin into Trouble

In Manhattan, things can get a little crazy. But no ones life is as crazy as the life of a Newsie. Most of them are known as street rats, but to each other... Selling 'papes' is a living. They're seen running around the streets with newspapers in their hands, screaming as loud as they can just to get a lousy cent. But to one girl, things couldn't get any better. She loved it.

. . . . On the Streets of Manhattan . . . .

"Race! What about that one?" A short girl with long brown hair and brown eyes whispered.

"Yah… He's perfect." Race whispered back. His name was Racetrack, well… That was his newsie name. The reason he got it is because that's where he spent most of his days, selling around the Racetrack and betting all of his money. Mostly losing it.

"I'll distract him and you snatch the bag." The girl replied back. Her name was Reffy. She wasn't like any other girl in New York, all she could rely on was the boys she called her 'brothers' back at the lodging house.

"Ready… Go!" Racetrack yelled.

Reffy laughed and ran up to a man in a black suit holding a small paper bag. She ran past him and snatched the black hat right off of his head.

"YOU RAT, GIVE ME THAT OR I'LL GET YOU IN THE REFUGE WHERE ALL YOU KIDS BELONG!" The man bellowed.

"Been there. Done that!" Reffy yelled and laughed as the mans face turned red in anger.

"You want your hat back? You're going to have to get it!" Reffy teased, and started running circles around him. The man frantically snatched for his hat, and accidentally dropped his brown paper bag. 

Racetrack snuck up behind him and grabbed the bag off the ground. Reffy threw the hat back at the man and ran away along with Racetrack.

"YOU'RE NOTHING BUT WORTHLESS NEWSIES!" The man yelled.

Racetrack and Reffy turned the corner and couldn't contain their laughter. Once they caught their breath, Racetrack pulled up the paper bag and opened it. There was a loaf of bread inside that was freshly baked from the market down the street. 

"We did better than yesterday!" Reffy said happily, grabbing onto Race's shoulder because she started laughing again. Racetrack smiled and broke the bread into two pieces.

"We better go back before the guy gets people after us." Racetrack said taking a bite into his piece of bread.

Reffy and Racetrack walked down the street eating their dinner. It was probably the only thing they'd be eating for a while, because they never really earned any money. But it was a living and they didn't complain about it.

Reffy and Racetrack walked into the lodging house and went up the stairs.

"Look what we have here…" Jack said as Reffy and Racetrack came into the room just finishing up their bread.

"What the… How do you guys do it?" Mush asked. He was always shocked that they never got caught taking food from people.

Reffy just laughed as she finished all of her bread and took her money out of her pocket.

"Did you sell a lot today?" Jack asked walking up to Reffy who was counting her money.

"Barely anything. Nobody buys from me anymore, Jack…" She said and sighed.

"Well you won't be selling at all when you get put back in the refuge again." Jack warned.

"Whoa… What's this? Why is Jacky-boy trying to tell ME to stay out of trouble? What about yourself? You're always getting into fights." Reffy replied sticking the money back in her pocket.

"I'm just looking out for you, kid." Jack said and playfully punched Reffy's shoulder. He turned around and walked away as Reffy sighed again.

About 5 years back, Reffy got caught stealing money from Pulitizer himself. She got sent to the refuge and met Jack there. Once Jack escaped, he promised to come get her one day.

After a long time, Reffy lost hope of Jack ever coming back and getting her out of that place. She hated that she could live and die there, and she needed to get out.

One night, Jack finally came back and they escaped. That's when Jack told her about the business he got into. He introduced her to being a newsie.

That's how she got her nickname, Reffy. Jack always wanted her to stay out of trouble, and remember that if it wasn't for becoming a newsie, she'd be back in that refuge before she knew it.

Racetrack was her very best friend. They were exactly alike, always having fun instead of worrying about their money or where they would sleep. They were constantly getting into trouble together. They didn't worry about the refuge - it didn't scare them.

Reffy was happy where she was. She didn't care that she was poor. She loved every single one of the newsies, and as long as she had them her life was fine.

"Reffy, I think it's time we took you to Spot. He'll straighten you out. Teach you to keep out of trouble." Jack joked, walking back to his bunk.

"Shut up! Spot has nothing to do with this, I know that I'm doing, Jack! I'm not gonna get caught again." Reffy said.

"I have nothing to do with what?" Someone said walking up the stairs.

Reffy's eyes got wide as she looked and saw Spot Conlon standing there. She always had a thing for Spot, but never showed it.

"Reffy's been stealing." Jack said, nodding over to where Reffy was standing. "What are you doing here, Spot?" He asked.

"Me and Race were hungry," Reffy cut in, looking at Jack. "It's not like the old fat guy was gonna chase us."

"Yea Jack, I mean… Without her I'd be starving right now. We were just getting bread." Racetrack said walking past Reffy and Jack and over to where Mush and Crutchy were talking.

"Ref," Spot said sternly, walking over to them. "My newsies can't protect you at the harbor."

"That's my selling spot. I don't need people to protect me, I'm not gonna get caught doing anything!" Reffy yelled. 

"Jack you should sell with her tomorrow so she won't go getting into any trouble. Find her a new place to sell." Spot said, turning away from Reffy and looking at Jack.

"I'm selling with Davey at Central Park." Jack replied.

Spot nodded. "A'right, then I want you to come back with me to Brooklyn, Ref." He said.

"Why!" Reffy asked angrily.

"Because none of my boys are at the harbor and we need to find you a new selling spot where you won't get into trouble." Spot replied. He motioned Jack to follow him down the stairs.

"When me and Spot are done talking you're going back with him." Jack told Reffy, then followed Spot.

Reffy rolled her eyes and looked over at Racetrack.

"That sucks." Racetrack commented. The amused smile on his face caused a few of the boys to snicker.

"Shut up, will ya?" Reffy replied, leaning up against the bunkbed.

"Good luck with Brooklyn, Ref." Skittery said, messing up Reffy's hair as he walked past her.

"Go to hell, Skitts." Reffy replied, running her fingers through her hair.

Spot and Jack came back up the stairs.

"Be good." Jack said, putting his finger under her chin and tilting her head up. "I'm serious."

Reffy hit his hand away. "Yea. yea, yea." She mumbled, and walked away.

"See ya tomorrow, Ref." Racetrack said as Reffy followed Spot back down the stairs.

Once they were outside she realized that it got really dark out.

"Listen... I don't want you walking around these streets when you're not with me or one of the boys. The only reason you're outside walking around here this late is because I'm with you, got that?" Spot asked. He was always trying to protect her.

"I'm not 10 years old, I know how to protect myself. I don't need Spot Conlon helping me out." She said and crossed her arms because a cold breeze swept by them.

Spot looked at her and smirked. "You always were the toughest girl I know." He said as they made their way to the Brooklyn Bridge.

"You don't need to follow me around tomorrow, I know what I'm doing! No refuge is taking me back, I know how to fight for myself." Reffy said.

"Nah… You don't." He said. "You're gonna stay in my room tonight." Spot said.

Reffy's eyes got wide as she looked around. "Umm… Why?" She asked as she got butterflies in her stomach.

"Because my boys get restless when a girl stays at our place, so one of them will try to do something." Spot said.

"So now I can't have a boyfriend…?" Reffy asked. She hated how everybody acted like her older brothers.

"You! Have a BOYFRIEND! Ha! That was a good one Ref." Spot said and started laughing. 

Reffy scoffed. "Why wouldn't I have a boyfriend? I could get one." She replied and smiled at him.

"I see you more as the type to beat up boys, not kissing em." He said.

Reffy looked down at the dark ground and frowned.

One they arrived to the Brooklyn Lodging House, Spot got everybody's attention.

"Reffy's stayin here tonight, if one of you bother her, lay a finger on her, or even TALK to her the wrong way, I'll kill you." Spot said being serious.

All the boys in the room were always scared of Spot. Everybody was. He was the toughest guy Reffy knew. Everybody knew about him all around New York as being the guy you shouldn't mess with.

Reffy walked into Spot's room and sat on the bed. She had butterflies in her stomach and she had no idea why. She didn't like them that much... Well, she didn't think she did.

"A'right I'll have one of my boys take you selling tomorrow and we can find you a spot where people will buy from you." Spot said.

"I don't get why I can't just stay at the harbor…" She replied.

"Because," Spot started as he put down his cane in the corner. "Jacky-boy's been saying that you tend to get yourself into trouble. I'm doing him a favor and making sure you don't." He said.

Reffy laughed. "I don't get into trouble. Me and Racetrack, we just…" Spot cut her off.

"I know I know... You and Race. Every newsie knows about you guys." He said.

"Really…?" Reffy asked and raised her eyebrows.

"Yea. The two kids who can't seem to stay out of trouble. You guys are inseparable." Spot said and laughed. "We can't let you go back to the refuge just because you and Race like to fool around."

Reffy laughed. She grabbed an extra pillow and layed down on the floor.

"What are you doing down there?" Spot asked.

"Sleeping."

"You can take the bed; I'll sleep on the floor." He said.

"I grew up sleeping on the ground, Conlon. I think I can take it for another night." Reffy said quietly and closed her eyes.


	2. Brooklyn

Aww! Thank you guys! Your reviews mean SOO much, thanks a lot! Love ya.... Oh yea, you guys better update.. haha

Short Chapter... but I'm adding on 2 today.

The next day Spot woke her up extra early to go selling with him.

"Maybe we can have you sell on this corner." He said pointing to the corner that was near the bridge.

Reffy sighed. "Put a lid on it, Conlon. I aint sellin here." She said.

Spot was about to say something when he heard somebody call his name. They both turned around and saw a girl walking towards him with a smile on her face.

"Hey beautiful." Spot said as he wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her.

Reffy looked at them and frowned. It was his girlfriend, Macenzie.

"Hi Reffy!" She said and smiled at her.

"Hiya Mac." Reffy said and smiled at her. "Spot, I'm goin back... Um, thanks anyways." She said and walked away.

Macenzie wasn't a newsie, she was actually the complete opposite. Her father was one of the richest men in Brooklyn, and he hated Spot. He thought he was nothing but trouble. So he decided to move up to Boston, that way they wouldn't be able to see each other. She was going to leave in a couple of days so they had to break up. Reffy felt bad for Spot, but in the back of her mind she was happy.

"Hey Look.. isnt that Reffy?" David said as he saw her walk down the sidewalk.

"REFFY!" Jack yelled trying to get her attention. They ran over to her.

"Oh.. Hey Jack, Hiya David." She said as she stopped walking.

"Why aren't you with Spot?" Jack asked.

"I sold all my papes, so he told me to go back." She lied. 

"Where you headin to?" Jack asked.

She shrugged. "I dunno."

"Well I want you to tell me so I know." Jack said.

"I'm really sick of being treated like a kid." Reffy replied back.

"I'll stop treatin you like one if you stopped gettin into so much trouble." He said. Reffy didn't respond to him and walked away. Jack was very over-protective of her.

Reffy put her hands in her pockets and walked down the dirt street. She couldn't help but smile when she saw Racetrack walking up to her.

"How was Spot? Was he tough on ya?" He asked as he lit his cigar.

"Nah." Reffy said shaking her head as they walked down the street together.

"What's wrong?" Racetrack asked. "You're quiet."

"Nothin." She said simply. "Wanna go to that bakery down the street?" She asked.

"I got no money." He said shaking his head. "I lost it all on the races."

Reffy nodded her head. She was useto him always losing his money.

"Well I ain't got any money either." She replied.

Racetrack nudged her shoulder and took a puff of his cigar. "You know we're not supposta steal around there anymore." He said.

"Why not? It's not like they're gonna catch us." Reffy said shrugging her shoulders.

"Nah but it ain't such a good idea with Jack and Spot on your back now." He said.

Reffy took his cigar and put it in her mouth. "You're startin to sound like Cowboy." She said.

Racetrack stole his cigar back and laughed. "Nah, I just don't want my best friend back in the refuge." He replied.

Reffy got quiet. They continued down the street until they finally got to the lodging house.

She acted like the refuge didn't scare her. But truthfully? It did. It scared her more than anything. It was her biggest fear. 

"You think I'll get caught or somethin, Race?" She said quietly.

"Nobody can catch you, you're too quick." Racetrack said and smiled at her.

"Pulitzer caught me." She said in the same quiet voice.

He sighed. "That was a long time ago." Race replied.

Reffy nodded her head in agreement. She was only about 9 years old when it happened.

"What's goin on? You get caught or somethin?" Race asked noticing that she got quiet again.

"Nah, course not." She said shaking her head. "Jacks just been scarin me about it, thats all." She said as they walked into the Lodging House.


	3. New Girl

That Night ~  
  
"Reffy thinks she can take on anybody!" Specs said and smiled at Reffy who raised his eyebrows at him.  
  
"I could soak you, and you KNOW IT!" She said and smiled as everyone laughed.  
  
Specs walked over to her and put out his arms. "Cmon, let's see it then." He joked.  
  
Reffy went to go run over to him when she felt somebody pick her up.  
  
"JACK!!!" She yelled as she frantically pounded him on the back. He had her slung over his shoulder.  
  
"She aint so tough now." Jack said and all the boys started laughing.  
  
"Ey look at her!!" Mush yelled as Reffy held on to the bed post of Racetracks bunk. She pulled herself off of Jack's shoulders before he knew it.  
  
Reffy laughed as she jumped on Jack's back and covered his eyes so he was stumbling all over the place. Now everybody was laughing even harder.  
  
Racetrack ran over and pulled Reffy off of his back and he got her into a headlock.  
  
"RACE!!! You traitor!!" She screamed.  
  
"Um.. Hello?" A small voice was heard from the staircase.  
  
Everybody got silent and looked at where the voice was coming from, Reffy was still in the headlock but looked anyway.  
  
"You're all newsies?" A girl said in the same small voice. Racetrack let go of Reffy and all the guys stared at her.  
  
"Uh.. Yea, who are you?" Reffy asked as she rubbed her neck from where Racetrack was holding her.  
  
"I'm Ruby.. I ran away from my parents the other night... I need a job." She said.  
  
Reffy tried not to laugh. The way she dressed showed that she wasn't good material for selling papers.  
  
"You? A newsie?" Racetrack said looking her up and down.  
  
"Yea." Ruby said and smiled.  
  
All the boys crowded around her as Reffy stood there and crossed her arms. Introductions were coming from everybody, but Reffy backed away and sat on her bed. She stole one of Racetrack's cigars and was playing with it waiting for everyone to calm down.  
  
After a while a sting of jealousy ran through her body. "Im going for a walk." Reffy said as she walked down the stairs. She was walking slowly and waiting for Jack to stop her because of what he warned her about the night before with Spot, but he didn't.  
  
Reffy realized how mad she was getting and started laughing as she walked out into the night. "She'll be back with her folks tomorrow." She said to herself.  
  
Reffy walked down the dirt streets and sighed. It was quiet, but it was better than staying at the lodging house and watching all of her friends drool over the new girl.  
  
Reffy got ripped from her thoughts when she heard voices coming towards her. She ducked in the darkness of an alley and watched 2 guys walk by. They were heading for the Brooklyn Bridge.  
  
"Manhattans got a new girl." One of the guys said.  
  
"Really?" Another voice said. Reffy gasped. It was Spot Conlon.  
  
"Yea. Word is she is a keeper if you know what I mean." The other voice said. Reffy rolled her eyes.  
  
"We'll head over there tomorrow.. I need a new girl... Mac left this morning." Spot replied.  
  
Reffy felt her heart rip into pieces. They were far enough away that she couldn't hear their conversation anymore.  
  
She decided to get up and walk back to the lodging house before anyone saw her. If Spot noticed her walking the streets at night, he'd kill her.  
  
She walked up the stairs and saw that it was totally empty. She went back downstairs and walked up to Kloppman.  
  
"Where did everyone go?" She asked.  
  
"They went to Tibbys to introduce Ruby to everyone." Kloppman replied.  
  
Reffy smiled. "Thanks." She said and walked out.  
  
~  
  
"Hiya boys!" Reffy yelled as she ran into Tibby's.  
  
The smile swept off of Reffy's face when she saw that nobody was paying any attention to her.  
  
"Race... Whats goin on?" Reffy asked when she saw everybody crowded around a table.  
  
"Its the new girl." Race said and walked back over to the crowd with a drink in his hand.  
  
Reffy pushed past a couple of people to catch a look.  
  
"Whoa whoa... Whats the big deal? Its just another girl in the joint." Reffy asked and pushed past more people.  
  
"Reffy! There you are... This is Ruby. We gotta show her how to make it as a newsie." Jack said.  
  
Reffy looked down and raised her eyebrows. Now she knew why all the guys were crowded around her... She was very pretty. She had blonde hair past her shoulders and bright blue eyes. Her blonde hair curled at the bottom. Her and Reffy looked nothing alike. While Reffy was in her Newsie's clothes, Ruby dressed in a blue dress that brought out her eyes. She didn't look like a newsie. Reffy knew she wouldn't cut it selling papes.  
  
"Hi." Reffy said simply. Ruby just raised her eyebrows at her. Reffy looked at Jack and walked away.  
  
"Ref." Jack said walking up to her as she was about to leave.  
  
"What?" She asked.  
  
"Where you goin?" Jack asked.  
  
"Ise goin back, I dont feel like being here." She said.  
  
"You ok?" Jack asked.  
  
Reffy looked at him and raised her eyebrows. "I'm fine." She said obviously.  
  
Jack nodded his head. "Shes just shy." He replied.  
  
Reffy smirked. "Maybe you're right." She said and nodded her head.  
  
"Yous goin straight back to the lodging house, right? No gettin into trouble?" He asked.  
  
Reffy started laughing. "You know Jack, sometimes you CAN trust me." She said as she walked out of Tibby's. Once she got back, she immediately fell asleep. She had to sell all her papes tomorrow to make-up for the money she didnt get that day. 


	4. Rummy?

Thanks Fast, Tash, Drama Queen, and Cards for reviewing =) You guys are the best!

The next morning Reffy got in line to buy her papes. Racetrack came up behind her with a smile on his face.

"What you so happy about this mornin?" She asked.

"Have you met the new girl?." He said.

"Rummy?" She asked.

"No.. Her names Ruby. She's beautiful... I want to go sellin wit her today but I think Jack's takin her." Racetrack explained.

"Go with them then.." Reffy said.

"But we're supposed to sell together today." Racetrack replied.

"I gotta go to me new sellin spot... I am only doin it today, after that I'm back to where I always sold my papes. Tomorrow we can go to the races together and sell there." She said.

Racetrack smiled. "Ok.. Well I gotta go catch up with Jack then." He said.

"Cut infront me, get your papes, and run.. They just left." She said.

"Thanks Reffy." He said as he payed for his papers and took off to the streets.

Reffy got her 50 papes from Weasel and walked off to the place Spot Conlon told her to go. It was still light out when she sold all of her papes. She was about to walk back when she saw Spot coming towards her.

"Ay.. I see you took my advice on this sellin spot." He said.

Reffy nodded her head and stuck her money in her pocket like she always did.

Spot smirked at her and walked away.

Reffy came back from selling and was infront of the lodge house. She heard the boys talking inside. 

As she walked up the stairs people were getting ready to go to sleep. 

"So Ruby, did you sell a lot today?" Mush asked as he walked over to Ruby who was looking in the mirror.

"Well, Race helped me a lot." She said and smiled at Racetrack who was sitting on his bed on the bottom bunk.

Reffy walked past Mush and Ruby and went over to Racetrack.

"Hiya Race." Reffy said sitting down next to him on the bed.

"Oh. Hi Reffy." Racetrack said. He was smiling over at Ruby and didn't even look at her.

"Um.. Hows it rollin?" Reffy asked. Racetrack continued to stare at Ruby as she talked to Mush. "RACE!" Reffy said trying to snap him out of it.

"W-What?!" Race said getting out of his trance and looking at her.

"Forget it." Reffy said shaking her head and walking over to her bed. She fell asleep before everybody. Nobody talked to her, but she decided to ignore it.

"Race." Jack said walking over to Race who was about to get into bed.

"What?" He said groggily. 

"I need to talk to you about Reffy." Jack replied.

Racetrack rolled his eyes. "Cowboy, she's not gettin into trouble." He said.

"You are her best friend, Race. You gotta tell her to stop stealing, getting into fights, and messin around with da bulls." Jack said quietly.

"I do!" Racetrack exclaimed. "She's scared of the refuge, I know she is... She just doesnt want people to know it." He replied.

Jack nodded his head and hit Racetrack's shoulder. "Aright, thanks Race." He said and walked over to his bed.


	5. Close Call

"Hiya Ref." Racetrack replied as they got in line for their papes the next morning.

"We're still sellin together at the races today, right?" Reffy asked.

"Oh!" Racetrack exclaimed. "Sorry, I forgot! I'm selling with Ruby today." He replied.

"Who?" She asked. "Oh.. Ruby." She said once she remembered and nodded her head.

"Yea.. I, uhh.. I think she might like me." Racetrack said and nudged Reffy's side with his shoulder.

"Y-you like R-Ruby?!" Reffy replied in shock. How could her best friend like her?!

"Yea! She's great, isn't she?" Racetrack replied and smiled. It was a smile that Reffy saw all the time, but this time you could tell that he was so happy. 

"That's great Race.. I'm glad she likes you." She said quietly and faked a smile.

"Race!!" Ruby called from the gates. Racetrack grabbed his papers and ran over to her. Reffy watched as they walked away, smiling and talking the whole time.

'He likes her.. Racetrack likes Ruby' Reffy thought to herself.

"Ref." Mush said shoving her forward. "Get your papes." He said. Reffy realized that she was holding up the line, so she got her 50 papes and walked down the streets. She had to sell some papes today and get some money. She needed it.

Racetrack finished selling his papes and was on his way back to the Lodging House. Ruby was selling the rest of her papers with Jack.

He looked around at the crowded streets and was happy that he was done selling so early. After he looked at the crowd he did a double take and saw Reffy selling. He smiled and ran over to her.

"Hey Ref! Need help?" He asked coming up infront of her.

"Hiya Doll!" She said smiling. "Uhmm.. I think I'm all set here, but thanks anyway." She said.

"Do you want me to wait for you until your done?" Racetrack asked.

Reffy smiled as memories came into her mind. They use to sell with each other and wouldn't leave each other until they had all of their papes gone.

"If you wanna." She said as she sold another pape.

"So..." Racetrack said putting his hands in his pockets. "What do you think about Ruby?" He asked.

Reffy put the stack of newspapers supported underneath her arm and looked at him. "The new girl?" She asked.

"Yea. The new girl..." He replied.

"She seems like a good kid." Reffy lied.

"I was talkin to her the other day, you know.. And I was thinkin of makin her my girl." He replied.

Reffy dropped her stack of papers on the ground in shock. She knelt down and started picking up all the papers. 

Racetrack knelt down and tried to help her. "No Race." She said. "I can do it." 

Reffy picked up her last pape and stood up wiping the dust off of them from the dirt street.

"So what do you think about that?" Racetrack asked. Reffy looked at him and sighed. His eyes were squinted slightly because of the sun and she hated picturing Ruby and her best friend together.

"Well, if you really liked her.." She said.

"I do, Reffy! She's not like ANY other girl newsie. She doesn't even compare to the Harlem newsies, and you know how much everybody loves those girls." Racetrack explained.

"She's better than your precious Harlem girls?" Reffy asked and smiled. She had friends over in Harlem that every Brooklyn and Manhattan newsboy went crazy over whenever they were in their parts. Blinks girlfriend was a Harlem newsie, her name was Fast.

"She seems like the right one for me." Racetrack said.

Reffy sat down on the curb of the sidewalk and set down her papes.

"It would be a real step up for you, Race..." She explained. "I don't think Ruby's the kind of girl who would stay at the races all day and watch you bet on horses." 

"So?" Racetrack asked.

Reffy rolled her eyes. "You'd hafta stop gamblin all the time and you'd hafta revolve around her all the time! Girls like her are like that. They'll break your heart if they find ONE thing wrong with you." She said trying to convince him out of it.

"No.. Not Ruby. She's not like that." Racetrack said with a dreamy look on his face.

Reffy picked up her papes and stood up. "Well ok Race... I can't stop ya. Good luck." She said and walked away shouting the headlines.

"REFFY." He yelled and ran after her. "You still want me to wait for you?" He asked.

Reffy didn't look him in the eye. "Nah, it's fine, I'll be there eventually.. It won't be any fun watchin me yell these headlines all day." She said.

Racetrack nodded his head. "I'll see you back at the lodging house or something." He said and walked away.

"See ya." Reffy said to herself quietly. After about an hour she slowly finished selling her papes.

She went to put her money in her pocket when she dropped 50 cents on the ground. She went to go pick it up when a little girl, about 10 years old, picked it up before her.

"What are you doin kid? That's my money." Reffy said and put out her hand for the girl to put it in.

"No it's MY money." The little girl said. She was dressed in a blue and white dress and her blonde hair was in curls. She had on a white hat with a blue ribbon on it.

Reffy looked at the girl like she was crazy. "Are you kiddin me? Kid GIVE ME MY MONEY." She yelled.

The little girl skipped off and Reffy's jaw dropped.

She ran up to the girl and grabbed her hand. "Let go of my money kid or I'll hafta soak ya! Do you WANT that or somethin?!" She yelled.

The little girl looked at Reffy and started crying.

"Why you cryin?! I just wanted my money!" She yelled and rolled her eyes.

"What on earth are you doing?!!" A lady said walking quickly up to Reffy and the little girl. "Let go of my daughter!" She yelled.

Reffy let go and sighed. "Your little girl picked up my money off the ground when I dropped it and I just want it back... I'm not gonna hurt her or nothin."

Reffy tensed up as she saw a man dressed in a blue uniform walk up to them.

"What seems to be the problem here?" The man asked.

Reffy looked at him and ran away through the crowds as fast as she could. Jack warned her never to mess with the bulls, just in case she was recognized or got into any trouble.

"HEY YOU THEIF GET BACK HERE!!!!" The man yelled.

"Theif?!" Reffy said outloud as she ran. She ran into an alley and accidentally smashed into the wall. She heard him coming so she fell to the ground and hid behind a couple of trash cans.

She heard footsteps walk away and she let out a deep sigh of relief. Then she winced in pain when she realized that she cut her face on the wall.

Reffy put her hand to her face and frowned when she saw blood all over her fingers. She stood up and checked to see if the coast was clear.

When she saw no bulls, she ran back to the Lodging House as fast as she could. 

"Hiya Reffy.. What happened to your face?" Kloppman asked once she got there. He was the one who ran the lodging house.

"I fell." She said and faked a smile at him.

"I'm not a theif." She whispered to herself as she slowly walked up the stairs. "The little girl took MY money..." She convinced herself. Then she realized what happened and scoffed. "I got robbed by a 10 year old girl in pigtails." She said louder and shook her head. "If anyone hears about that, there goes my reputation.." 

Once she reached the top of the stairs she went right over to the mirror to examine her face. The blood was running down her cheek so she took a towel, wet it, and wiped it off. There were 2 scratches on her upper cheek but they weren't deep.

"Heya Reffy.. What happened to your face?" Mush asked walking up to her with Blink.

"I fell when I was walkin through the crowds, can you believe dat?!" She lied.

"Them crowds can be tough." Crutchy said as he approaced them.

"Hiya Toots," Reffy said seeing Crutchy in the reflection of the mirror. "How'd your sellin go today?" She asked as she put the towel on her cut to stop the bleeding.

Crutchy nodded his head. "Pretty good Reffy.. How bout you?" He asked. Reffy couldn't help but smile. Crutchy always seemed to put a smile on her face, no matter what he said.

"Pretty good Crutchy.. Pretty good." She said. 

Reffy pulled down the towel and saw that her cuts stopped bleeding. She tried to ignore the pain and walked over to her bunk.

"Reffy what happened to your face?" Jack asked.

"She fell in the crowds Jack!" Crutchy explained. "Dey can get pretty tough on a girl like you, Ref." Crutchy said and went over to his bunk.

"You's fell, ay?" Jack asked, not convinced.

Reffy nodded her head and looked around. "Ya.. I fell." She lied.

Jack examined her eyes, for some reason he always knew when she was lying. Reffy bit her lip and tried to hide her lie.

"Be careful next time kid." He said walking over to her and softly rubbing her cheek with his thumb. "We don't want you any more cut up." He said and walked away.

Reffy smirked that she got away with that. If Jack ever found out about the bull, she would never hear the end of it.

Review.. Please!


	6. Poker

Wow.. You are all SO sweet! HUGE thanks to Cards, Tash, Jo, BitterSweet, and The Laughing Joker. Thanks soo much you guys, you are all awesome!!

Before everybody was going to sleep, Reffy got out of her bed and walked over to Jack.

"Jack... I need to ask you something." Reffy asked as she stood by Jack's bunk. He was laying down and staring at the ceiling. Jack turned his head to her and raised his eyebrows. 

"You... asking me something? Like what?" Jack asked.

"Like... I need advice." Reffy said quietly.

Jack sat up in his bed and laughed. "Advice???" He questioned as he took her hand and pulled her up on the bunk with him.

"Yea... But you have to promise to keep this all to yourself. You can't tell people about it." Reffy replied.

Jack's face went from happy to serious. "What is it? Is the refuge after you again? Did you get in trouble? They looking for you?" He asked quickly, as anger grew in his face.

"No! No.. No Jack, I didn't get in trouble. I promise. I wouldn't do anything like that to get back into the refuge again." Reffy said reassuringly.

Jack calmed down and took a deep breath. "Don't do that." He replied. Ok.. What is it about?" he asked.

Reffy sighed and scratched her forehead. "I dunno.. I-I just... It's about Ruby." 

"What? Is she ok?" Jack asked raising his eyebrows.

"No! No, she's NOT ok." Reffy said loudly. "I must be going out of my MIND.." She said quietly and put her hands on her head.

"Ref.. What's goin on?" Jack asked.

"Nothing. It's nothing. I'm just crazy or somethin." Reffy said and got off the bunk. 

~ 

The next day Reffy couldn't think straight. She was able to sell her papers before it got dark, and she was thankful. 

Once she got to the lodge, Blink, Crutchy, and Dutchy were already there.

"Hey Reffy!" They all said at the same time as she walked over to them.

"Hiya Fella's.. Whatchu up to?" She asked sitting down on a chair near-by.

"Talkin about Racetrack and Ruby." Crutchy said. "But you probably know all about it." 

"Yea, Race tells you everything so you're probably getting annoyed with him telling you all this stuff about Ruby huh." Blink said smirking.

Reffy shrugged. "He hasn't talked about it much. Well...Not really.." She replied.

"Oh.. Well do you think he'll do it during the poker game tonight or tomorrow morning?" Crutchy asked. "What did he say?" He asked Reffy.

"Do what??" Reffy asked.

They looked at her with confused expressions on their faces. "Ask her to be his girl! He didn't tell you?! I thought you were the first person he would tell." Dutchy asked in awe.

"Oh." Reffy said simply.

"Yea so..." Blink started, but Reffy cut him off.

"Wait, whatd you say? There's a poker game tonight??" She asked perking up.

Blink laughed. "Yea, didn't Race and Jack tell you?" He asked.

Reffy sighed. "No." She said heavily.

"Well now we can see how much money Spot wins from Racetrack this time." Dutchy said and laughed remembering that when Racetrack went to Brooklyn, Spot won all of his money during a game.

"Spot's coming?!" Reffy asked excitedly. The 3 guys stopped talking and looked at her like she was crazy. "I mean.." She said calming down. "Spot's playin tonight?" She asked casually.

The 3 guys nodded their heads and exchanged glances with eachother wondering why she got so excited. Reffy stood up and scratched her forehead. 

"Umm.. I'm gonna go for a walk." She said and walked down the stairs and out of the Lodging House.

"StupidStupidStupid..." Reffy said hitting her head as she walked outside. She had to keep her feelings down about Spot around people. "Why didn't he tell me about asking her tonight?" She thought to herself. 

Reffy walked into Tibby's and sat down by herself in a booth. None of her friends were there, but she needed somewhere to be alone for a while. She got a drink and stared out the window at the people walking by. 

It was times like this when she thought that it would have been like if she never messed up. What if she had a family? What if she was never in the refuge in the first place? What if she wasn't a newsie? She never knew if she made the right choice coming with Jack and doing this her whole life.

Reffy realized that the sun was almost down and she should be heading back. She let out a long yawn as she walked up the stairs.

When she got to the top, Reffy went over to the mirror. She checked the cuts on her faces from the day before. She looked exausted and it was hard for her to smile. "I'll never hear the end of this." She said as she walked over to where everybody was playing their poker game. 

"So who can I win money off of tonight?" She joked as she sat by the table and saw that Mush had a lot of the money. 

"Jack, you in or what?" Race said as he was dealing the cards. He didn't acknowledge Reffy.

"Fine, I'm in." He said as Racetrack gave him his cards.

"Race, deal me in." Reffy said taking out some of the money she had hidden underneath her bunk.

"What? Oh, hi Ref.. Uhh.. Next game ok?" He asked.

"Oh. Ok.." She said. "So I thought Spot was comin to play tonight." She said curiously.

"He did." Jack said looking at his cards. "Hes out with Ruby right now though. Give me 3 Race" He replied putting down 3 cards on the table.

Reffy gasped. "NoNoNoNo.." She said as she took off running out of the lodging house. "He cant, he cant.. No, He cant like her." She panted as she ran down the street. She saw 2 people standing on the corner of the street so she ducked behind some stairs.

She couldnt hear what they were saying, but Spot was facing her and holding her hand. Before she knew it, he leaned down and kissed her. It wasnt a short kiss, it was long, and it was almost killing Reffy.

Reffy took off running. She didnt know where she would go, but she just ran as far as she could, as fast as she could... She had the worst feeling in her heart, as if it was breaking.

She ran out of breath and stopped. She looked up and noticed she was by the Brooklyn Bridge, but she didnt care. 

"Get over it, Ref... Get over it! Cmon, you cant get like this over a boy. You're Reffy! Get a grip!!" She said to herself as she walked back and forth. "I'm losin it, I'm goin out of my MIND." She said and stopped pacing. She sat on the side walk underneath a street light and put her head down.


	7. Fight with Spot

Ahh you guys are all SO nice! Thanks a lot for reviewing!!! Big thanks to bittersweet, Derby, Fast, Cards, Ratsy, Nikolett (I love that name), and Tash!! I love you guys! ...haha 

This might be a little shorter, but I wanted to update, so I added on the rest of that day..

Time went by but she knew she didnt want to go back. Its not like anyone would notice anyway. Nobody cared about her anymore just because of Ruby. Everything was about Ruby. 

"Whats a girl like you doin on the streets at a time like this?" A voice said. Reffy lifted her head. She looked to see who it was and rolled her eyes knowing she'd get another lecture.

"REFFY?" Spot yelled. "What the hell are you doing?" he asked.

"What? Whats the problem? I'm outside - BIG DEAL. You are reacting like I just killed someone." She said. She hated him. She hated looking into his eyes now, because she knew that Ruby looked into them before she kissed him. She hated that.

"You are going to be hurt one night and I am not going to be here to stop it." Spot said pulling Reffy up.

"I'm 15!! Not 5!!" She yelled.

"Exactly, you are 15! You could be killed out here." He said, starting to get mad.

"You really wouldn't care because you'd be too busy kissing Ruby, wouldnt you?" She replied. Spot raised his eyebrows.

"Shes my girlfriend, whats so wrong with that?" He asked, he was starting to give her attitude.

"Nothing.. You are Spot Conlon so you REALLY wouldn't know." Reffy said and started walking away.

"What are you talking about?!" Spot said confused.

Reffy went back to the lodging house and ran up the stairs and saw that everyone was sleeping except for Racetrack. He was standing by the window smoking his cigar. 

Reffy walked up behind him and tapped his shoulder. Racetrack jumped, but then realized it was Reffy.

"You never stay awake unless somethings bothering you... " She said leaning up against the window.

"Nothins wrong." He replied and took another puff of his cigar.

"Is it about Ruby?" She whispered.

Racetrack took the cigar out of his mouth and looked at her. "What are you tawkin about?" He said.

"A week ago you liked her more than anybody. Now shes Spot's girl." She hated saying that.

Racetrack sighed. "She kissed me yesterday walkin back from the races." He said. "I was gonna ask her to be my girl tonight." 

Reffy frowned. He was feeling the same way she was. The person he liked was going out with someone else.

"Aw Race.." She said and put her hand on his shoulder.

Racetrack smiled and put the cigar back in his mouth. "It's ok. Don't worry about me." He said. "Hey.. What's been up with you lately, huh?" He asked touching her cheek. "Boys been sayin that you've been actin different."

"Oh." She said taking his hand down from her face. "I... I've just been tired lately." She said.

"Sorry I didnt notice earlier, Reffy. I should have payed more attention to my best friend instead of a girl like Ruby." He said. Reffy never heard him talk like that before.

Reffy nodded, she didnt know how to reply to that. He was looking out the window and there was a look to his eyes that Reffy never saw before. He took the cigar out of his mouth and looked at her.

"I'm goin to sleep.. We gotta sell tomorrow." He said and walked to his bed, and she walked to hers too. 

The rest of the night she tried to fall asleep, but couldnt stop thinking about everything. Racetrack was never sad. Reffy closed her eyes and finally was able to sleep, but the night went by quick and it was hard for her to wake up in the morning.

Thanks for the reviews!!!! I will definetly keep you all in mind if I need people in this for the future. 


	8. It's Payback

I love Tash, Nikolett, Rhapsody, and Fast! (oh, Fast, you will be in soon) you guys are SOO nice I really really appreciate the reviews!! (if I forgot your name sorrryyy let me know!)

I am trying to update as much as possible, so here's the next chapter! Please review you guys, it means a lot .. thanks!!

Reffy walked down the street and saw Ruby in line for her papers. 

"It's payback time." Reffy said to herself as she walked up the ramp.

Reffy walked right up to Ruby and pushed her against the wall.

"What's your problem, huh?!" Reffy yelled. Everybodys attention turned towards them.

"Reffy!" Blink yelled as he started running up the ramp to where they were.

"Get off me!" Ruby screamed as Reffy pushed her harder against the wall waiting for an answer. Reffy was shorter than Ruby, but definetly tougher.

Mush came up behind her and pulled her away from Ruby.

"Mush CMON let me handle this!" Reffy said struggling from his strong grip.

"What the hells wrong with you Ref?!" Jack asked as he put his arm around Ruby who was shaking.

"Nothing! Somethings wrong with HER." Reffy yelled. "You're a little bitch Ruby, and I swear to god I'm gonna get you back for what you did to my best friend." She said getting out of Mush's grip and walking away.

Reffy stormed down the street without any papers in her hands. She wanted to scream out to the whole world what Ruby did to Racetrack, but she knew that Race would hate her if she told any of the newsies. 

"So now they like some new girl better than me." Reffy said through clenched teeth to herself. 

"REFFY!!" 

She turned around and saw Racetrack running towards her.

"You told them what happened?!" Racetrack asked. Anger was in his eyes.

"No! No Race, I swear to god I didnt!" She said putting her hand on her heart.

"Then how come Jack said you tried to hurt Ruby because of what she did to me!" Racetrack yelled. Reffy flinched.

"I-I didn't say anything." She stuttered. 'why am I scared of him?' Reffy thought to herself.

"I dont know WHY I cant TRUST YOU ANYMORE!" Racetrack yelled loudly. Reffy jumped back and her heart practically stopped.

"Why are you YELLING at me?!" She said.

"Because you are supposed to be my best friend!" Racetrack yelled.

"I am! Thats why I did what I just did! I was defending you!!! Jesus, Race, I am telling you, I didnt say anything about what you told me the other night." Reffy said.

Racetrack narrowed his eyes and looked at her. As if he was trying to figure out if he could believe her or not.

"Race," Reffy said quietly. "You gotta believe me... I was mad at her for hurtin you." She said.

Racetrack let his face relax. "Alright." He said just above a whisper. "Alright, come here, I believe you." He said putting out his arms.

Reffy let him wrap his arms around her in a hug. She put both her hands on his back and let out a sigh of relief. She was surprised that she had a feeling in her stomach as he held onto her... She felt like everything was ok. Once he let go of her, he put his arms on her shoulders.

"Listen Ref," He said. "I don't want you gettin into fights with Ruby about all this." He warned.

"It doesn't bother you that she did this to you? Race, shes Spots now! You were crazy about her before.. Why are you acting like it doesnt bother you?" Reffy asked biting her bottom lip.

"Ofcourse it does," Racetrack sighed. "It makes me wanna kill Spot, but I'm not gonna let a girl like Ruby ruin everything for me." He replied.

What Racetrack said made Reffy think. He was right, a girl like Ruby shouldnt ruin anything that's going on with her. 

"Ok Race." Reffy said and nodded her head.

"Go get your papes." He said as he picked up his papers that he put on the sidewalk before he confronted her.

Reffy turned around and walked back to the line. Only a couple people were in it, everybody else was off selling.

She got her papes and slowly walked through the gates. She could barely make eye contact with Blink as she walked past him. She could feel him staring at her, but she wouldnt know what to say if he asked why she did that to Ruby.

Reffy walked to the harbor as she read the headlines. "Anythin good this morning?" She asked herself as she flipped through the pages.

"Nothin good." Someone said behind her. Reffy turned around and saw Jack standing there holding his stack of papers.

Reffy closed her paper and was ready for a long lecture from Jack, but instead, he smiled.

"What?" Reffy said smiling.

"You are unbelievable." He said. The smile disappeared from her face.

"You dont know what's going on Jack." Reffy said.

"I dont care whats going on, you shouldnt be hurtin Ruby like that." Jack said.

"I didnt HURT her.. I just pushed her a little bit." Reffy said.

"Go sell your papes kid." Jack said. "I will talk to you tonight." He said and walked away.

"Yea, I'm definetly lookin forward to it." She said sarcastically as she turned around and walked into the crowds of people.

~ 

Reffy walked up the stairs of the lodge and noticed that everybody was staring at her. Ruby was sitting on Jack's top bunk and shot a glare at Reffy.

"Ref," Jack said as he held onto Reffy's arm and pulled her over to his bunk. "Apologize."

Reffy looked up at Ruby and sighed. "Sorry." She mumbled to herself.

"Sorry, what?" Ruby asked. "I didn't really hear you." She said in a sickly sweet voice.

Reffy clenched her fists and closed her eyes. She controlled herself from punching her and took a deep breath. "Sorry." She said clearly and opened her eyes. 

"That's what I thought you said." Ruby replied and jumped down from the bunk. She stared coldly down at Reffy and walked away. Reffy looked down at the floor and shook her head.

Jack put a hand on her shoulder. "See, Shes really nice." He said.

"Yeah." Reffy lied, still looking at the ground.

Jack brushed his fingers through Reffy's hair as he walked away. Reffy took her fist and pounded the side of Jack's bunk. 

She walked over to her bunk and fell asleep without changing. She didn't care anymore.

"Whats been going on with Reffy?" Crutchy asked as he made his way over to where Blink, Mush, Dutchy, Specs, and Race were hanging out.

"What do you mean?" Specs replied.

"I never seen her get that way to another newsie before." Crutchy said referring to what happened that morning.

Dutchy shrugged his shoulders. "She is fine, I dont think anythings wrong, she probably just got mad about somethin." He said.

"Yea, nothin to worry about. Rubys not hurt." Mush said and walked to his bed.

"I still think somethins wrong..." Crutchy replied and shook his head. There was a feeling inside of him that wouldnt go away.

"Shes ok Crutchy." Racetrack said. "...I think." 

Race walked over to Reffy's bed and knelt down beside it. She was on her side and sleeping silently. Racetrack pushed the hair that was infront of her face behind her ear and smiled. 

Jack looked down from his top bunk. It was next to Reffy's, but she was on the bottom bunk. 

"Night Race." He said.

Racetrack stood up. "Gnight Jack." He said walking away from Reffy's bed.


	9. Medda's Joint

Thanks SOOOOOOO much Nikolett, Tash, Jersey, Derby, Rhap, Crazer1899, Fast (update fasstt! Oh, and you will be in soon, sorry for the slacking lol) Night, and Bittersweet. If I forgot you I AM SORRY... I am really stupid sometimes.

In the future, I might.. MIGHT.. be in need of some small parts, like girlfriends and stuff... Just letting everyone know, the only people who will be in it are the people who review. So thats why all of you original reviewers are awesome, and I will pay you all back for how nice you are being!

SO SORRY FOR THE DELAY! I know I am supposed to update all the time, but some REALLY tough and important stuff has been going on and I am so sorry I didnt update sooner. This is really really short, but I have the next chapter ready to update. PLEASE REVIEW!

The next day, Reffy walked up the stairs slowly. She sold all of her papers, but she was tired. She looked around and was surprised to see that the place was empty.

"Oh hi...?" A voice said standing behind her. Reffy turned around to see that it was Ruby.

"Reffy. It's Reffy." She said.

"The boys are at some place... Where Medda performs. That lady with the curly hair." Ruby said fixing her hair in the mirror.

"Yea, I know who she is, you don't have to explain her." Reffy said and washed her hands.

"I'm heading over there right now actually," Ruby started. "Medda gave me and Spot a seat right up in front. She's going to introduce me to all the newsies tonight on stage." Ruby bragged.

"No Kiddin." Reffy said and rolled her eyes.

"They didnt tell me to invite you but... I suppose you can come. Only if you want to though." Ruby replied as she turned away from the mirror and walked to the stairs.

"You don't need to get invited to get into Medda's joint." Reffy said obviously.

"Alright well my boys are waiting for me. Maybe I'll see you later Retty." Ruby said and walked down the stairs.

"REFFY." She yelled, but Ruby was already out of sight.

"I'll see you later RETTY." Reffy mocked as she walked over to her bed. "I'm not going anyways..."

Reffy sat there on her bed and sighed. She was beyond bored and she knew everyone was having a good time at Medda's... but she didn't want to see Ruby.

"Fine. I'll go. Dis is so stupid, I should just go." She said and stood up. She ran down the stairs and went as fast as she could to Medda's.

Reffy snuck inside and hid in the crowds as she looked for where everybody was. She caught a glimpse of Crutchy, and knew that they were all right up front. She stood up on a chair and saw everybody having a good time.

Ruby and Spot were sitting down at a table. While everyone was watching Medda, Spot and Ruby were talking to eachother. Reffy hadn't seen Spot since the night they got into an argument when he asked out Ruby.

"Hiya Reffy." Somebody said from behind her. Reffy turned around and saw a boy from Harlem, his name was Charlie. He was younger than her, but was only a little bit shorter than her.

"Hey Charlie." Reffy said and smiled at him.

"Why aren't you with the other guys?" He asked pointing to where Jack and everyone were up front.

"I'm not gonna stay long," Reffy replied. "I'm just here to see somethin." She said.

"Oh..." Charlie said quietly. "Well, I'm just here to see the new girl everybodys talkin about." Charlie replied.

"Ruby??" Reffy asked and got a sick feeling in her stomach.

"Yea. Spots girl." He said.

Reffy felt like she was going to be sick. "Oh." She replied simply. Charlie said bye to her and walked back to his seat.

After a while, Reffy figured out that it was a waste of time being there. She didn't even want to see everybodys reaction to Ruby anyway.

Reffy walked down the street with her hands in her pockets. It was a beautiful night, but she thought that it was ruined. Every night seemed to be ruined now just because of Ruby. She started thinking about how she was losing Racetrack as a friend, but she got interrupted. 

"What's a girl like you doin on the streets at a time like this?" Someone said from behind her.

She didnt turn around, but Reffy smiled. That's what Spot said the last time that she talked to him. 'he came to apologize.' She thought to herself as she turned around.


	10. Queens Kiss

Ahh I love you guys!! I'm actually gonna do individual shouts...

Cards .. lol you were right! Thanks for all your reviews, seriously. Thanks!

Fast .. Hey I am SO sorry for not having you in here yet doll. I'm serious, I'll get you in soon. 

Rhap .. hahaha! Don't worry, it'll happen soon ;) Thanks for your reviewing!

Nikolett .. Still lovin the name. You're SO sweet hun, thanks soo much!! That really really means a lot =) Thanks 

Tash .. Sorry for the delay! I seriously have to start updating as much as I did before. I've been soo busy. Thanks so much for your review!

The Laughing Joker .. I updated! Finally, right? I know I know... Sometimes I'm a slacker... lol Thank you doll!! =)

Sami .. True. True. It ain't Spot. =) I know, the guys seem so stupid, right? I hate to think that. No worries though, they're obviously gonna come to their senses. They're not gonna be like this the whole time, it'll change soon. Thank you for the review!

CrazyBeautiful Dru .. Hey doll, lolol thanks! Sorry it took me so long... but I'm emailing you right now! Thanks sooo much!

Bittersweet .. I'll keep that in mind =) I kind of have plans for this story, but I'm trying to fit people in. 

Jessica .. Wow, thank you so much! I know, I was looking around for something like that, so I decided to just write my own. =) Ofcourse there's more chapters.. There's going to be MANY chapters! Thanks alot doll!

Blue Kat .. Aww I am bookmarked? YES!! ..lolol.. It wasn't supposed to be a cliff but I didn't have ANY time to update any sooner. I was gonna do 2 chapters at once but it didn't end up like that. Sorry for the wait! Actually... What you just said about Jack romance... You might be reading my mind =) NOT for sure yet, and it might have some huge twist to it, but maybe... juuust maybe... 

Whoa... That's pretty long...

Anyways. SO sorry for the wait! Thanks sooo much for all of your reviews, I seriously really really appreciate all of them!

This is something kind of different. Just one of the many things that are going to happen... You might like it, you might not.. Let me know!

If you wanna talk or if you have ANY feedback or comments or questions... Email me at RaceHiggins@yahoo.com or IM me on NewSieGrL1899 . . . I would love to talk to you guys!

"Ha, look boys... I think she's scared." 

Reffy gasped in surprise. She was almost convinced it was Spot who was behind her.

It was 4 boys that she recognized. They were Queens Newsies, and she figured them being about 19 years old.

"Aint you Reffy from Manhattan?" One of them said and laughed.

"Yeahhh I heard you were tough or somethin. How old are you.. 15?" Another one said.

"Yea.. What do you want?" Reffy asked suspiciously.

"Hey, I also heard something else." One of them said. He was standing in the back but came forward and stood infront of Reffy.

"What?" She asked. She started backing away a little bit.

"I heard a little rumor the other day." He said.

"What kind of rumor...?" She asked.

"My boys from Brooklyn told me they saw you spend the night in Spot Conlon's room." He said and raised his eyebrows at her.

"Ya I heard dat too!" The fourth one said and started laughing.

"No... It's really not what you think." She said shaking her head trying to defend herself.

"We all know Spot.. He has a new girl in there every week." He said.

"That's not true." She said and glared at him.

"You're a pretty girl, I don't blame Spot." He said and ran his fingers down her neck. Reffy shrugged him off and stepped back again.

"He was helping me find a new sellin spot, you got a problem with dat or somethin?" She said louder.

"Nah, I only have a problem that you's been sleepin around with Spot Conlon and you're keepin it a secret from your big brother Jacky boy." He said, causing all the other boys to laugh. Even though Jack wasnt really her big brother, she was basically known for being the girl who Jack treats like his little sister. They werent even that far apart in age.

"You don't know what you're talkin about! And leave Jack and Spot out of this." She said in disbelief. She had no idea what they were getting at.

All the boys just laughed. She rolled her eyes and turned around to leave but he grabbed her shoulder. He turned her back towards him as she winced in pain at how hard he was holding onto her.

"C'mon LET GO." She yelled. Reffy was about to use all of her strength to fight him off, but before she could say or do anything else he put his other hand on the back of her neck and kissed her hard.

Reffy tried pulling away but the force of his hand on the back of her neck wouldn't allow her to move. She realized that the only way that could make him stop was to knee him in the groin. So... She did. 

He stopped kissing her and let go of his grip, so Reffy punched him in the face as hard as he could. He landed on his back.

Reffy tried to run away but another guy held onto her arms from behind.

"What the hell do you want!!!" She yelled trying to get out of his grip.

One of the boys went up to her and held her face so he could look her in the eye. "What? You to afraid to admit that Spot used you?" He said and started laughing. Reffy wanted to hurt him more than anything but the kid behind her wouldn't let go.

"Want to spread some rumors boys?" He started. "Little Reffy from Manhattan was used by Spot Conlon himself." He said and smiled. He walked up to Reffy and kissed her on the cheek. Reffy pulled her head back, but still couldn't release from the hold that her arms were in.

"Hey.. I think we should let her go. Everyone's leaving Medda's place and going back." One said.

The boy finally let go of Reffy's arms. As soon as she was released she turned around, punched him in the cheek, and ran away as fast as she could. She heard them scream stuff to her, but she couldn't hear it, all she could think about was getting out of there as quickly as she could.

Once she was in the lodging house and up the stairs, she ran up to the wall and pounded it with her fist. She lightly pressed her cheek up against it and felt a tear roll down her face.

Reffy wasn't the kind of girl who would cry. She never cried. Ever. 

"What the hell is everybody gonna think?" She cried to herself. "People are gonna hear those rumors." She swallowed back her tears and closed her eyes for a second. She opened her eyes and looked around the room. Her vision was blurred from her tears and she snapped back into reality.

Reffy stood up straight and wiped the tears from her cheeks. The only thing she could think about was how to keep this a secret from Jack and the boys. If they found out, nothing good would come from it. Jack would seriously try to kill the guys who did that to her. She had no doubt in how far Jack would go to protect her.

She knew that she had to stop crying. 'Reffy never cries' she thought to herself and sighed.

Reffy sat in the corner and held her knees to her chest. All she could think about was how much she hated her reputation. She got ripped from her thoughts when she heard footsteps walk up the stairs.

Like a bullet, Reffy stood up and took a deep breath. She ran to her bed and got under the covers as everybody entered the lodging house.

Review please!


	11. Flirting and Fighting

Woohoo! Another chapter!

Shout Outs –

Cards .. Yea I know lol Thanks for the review doll.

Rhap .. Aww wow thank you SO much!! That's soo nice of you to say =) 

Blue Kat .. Hey! Ahhh you're awesome! ..lol but yea, I've been thinking about Jack and I dunno MAYBE something might happen. I'm not gonna promise anything because I had some other plans too. The romance is kind of confusing to me right now. But yea, OFCOURSE I'll read your fan fic! I want to. Tell me when you post it by reviewing, email, or IM. =) Pulitzer? Oh god, ok, I posted for you! 

The L. Joker .. Hey! I know I'm so sorry how short that was. Hopefully this ones a little better. Thanks for reviewing!

Nikolett .. THANK YOUUUU =) ok, I posted 'more more more' hahaha ...

Fast .. You too?! Oh man.. I do that to everybody. Sorry!!!! I say it wayyyy to much. .. But thanks for the review! Haha, and for the soaking.

Katie .. Thank you doll =)

Tash .. I gotta stop with the suspense, huh.. lol Thank you!!!!

Liz .. AWW! Thank you!!! That's so sweet, thanks a lot hun!

Riot .. AHH thanks!!! That seriously means a lot =)

Sami .. Yea some guys really do suck. But Professionally? I WISH! But hey, thanks soo much, that's definetly a compliment, you're awesome! 

Bittersweet .. Don't worry about it ;) hehe thanks for the review!

Love you guys!

Now... As for the romance... It's definitely very very confusing. I have a lot of ideas in mind, with things I can do, and I have some parts written. (FYI .. I write, but I also have a lot of parts already written. I wrote a lot before I posted this.) So yea, the romance part of the story isn't all that clear right now. Tell me what you want! I could use some input. It might not go the way you want it, but I just want to see if other people are on my level or have the same ideas.

Last chapter I posted my email and IM so if you need anything talk to me! Thanks a lot for reading you guys =)

Reffy woke up the next morning with a pounding headache. Her eyelids would barely open, and her head hurt like hell.

She walked over to the sink and splashed some cold water on her face. She looked normal after she was awake for a little bit, and walked down the stairs to get her papers.

In line, Ruby wouldn't shut up.

"Spot was so romantic last night," She said. "After Medda's place we went back to his room for a little bit and he was being so sweet." She said and smiled as she explained her story to some of the guys.

"When did you get back here?" Blink asked her.

"Spot walked me back so I could come here and get some sleep." She replied.

Reffy rolled her eyes at Ruby's story. 

Racetrack came up behind Reffy and playfully pushed her forward. She turned around and smiled at him.

"Spot did this, and Spot did that. Then he walked me home last night." He mocked in an annoying girl's voice.

Reffy started laughing and elbowed his side. "Careful, Race. Remember what Jack said." She said. "She's 'actually really nice'" She said imitating Jack.

Racetrack laughed and lit his cigar. "Woman are so complicated."

"Thanks." She replied.

Racetrack took the cigar out of his mouth and smirked. "Obviously not you. You're Reffy." He said.

She raised her eyebrows. "What's that supposed to mean?" She asked.

"You're not considered like that." He said and immediately regretted bringing it up.

She let out an annoyed laugh. "Nevermind. Forget it." She said and shook her head. She knew what he was getting at. She knew that none of the guys considered her someone they could like in that kind of way.

"50." Reffy said and paid for her papes. Her and Racetrack walked out onto the street with their papers. She was going to go to the races with him today.

"RACETRACK!!" A voice screamed from behind them. They both turned around and saw Ruby walking towards them.

"Yea?" Racetrack asked once she reached them.

"Can you please sell with me today? I don't want to be by myself." She said and frowned.

"Sure!" He replied.

Reffy looked at him and hit his back so Ruby couldn't see.

"What?" Racetrack whispered.

"What the hell!" She whispered back to him.

"Uh.. Race?" Ruby asked and raised her eyebrows.

Racetrack sighed. "Hold on." He said with his cigar in his mouth. He grabbed Reffy's arm and pulled her to the sidewalk.

"What the hell are you doing, I thought we were selling together." She said and adjusted her papers under her arm.

"We are! Ruby's just coming." He replied.

"Why?? You know I don't like her!" She said.

"I'm not going to let her sell by herself." He said and took the cigar out of his mouth.

"So it's ok for me to sell by myself but it's not ok if she sells by herself, is that what you're saying?" She asked. It was obvious she was getting annoyed.

"This is Ruby here. She couldn't hurt a fly, what if some guy tried something with her, huh? She wouldn't be able to defend herself. YOU can." He said lightly pushing her shoulder.

Reffy's mind went blank. The answer was no. She couldn't. She could barely defend herself the night before with the Queen newsies...

She sighed. "Whatever you say, Race." She said quietly.

"Come with us." He said.

She looked at him like he was crazy. "You're kidding, right?" She asked.

"She's not that bad." He replied and looked at her. Reffy followed her gaze and looked at her too. She was standing on the street with about 20 papers. She smiled sweetly at Racetrack. Reffy wanted to say that Race sounded exactly like Jack, but shut up.

Racetrack looked back at Reffy and waited for an answer.

"Well.." Reffy said thinking. Ruby saw that Racetrack wasn't looking and shot Reffy a dirty look. Reffy saw her and laughed. "No friggin way. I'm not going if she's there." She said and looked at Racetrack. He was staring at Reffy hoping that she'd go.

Racetrack took a puff of his cigar. "A'right.." He said and shrugged his shoulders. 

"Race." Reffy said when he was about to turn around and walk back to Ruby.

"Yea?"

"YOU'RE the complicated one." She said and walked down the busy sidewalk with her papers. 

Racetrack stood there and watched Reffy disappear in the crowd. He swore under his breath and walked back to Ruby. He knew he made a mistake, but it was too late now. 

"What's wrong?" Ruby asked noticing that Racetrack was frowning.

"Nothin." He said and threw his cigar on the ground. "I just gotta talk to Reffy tonight."

. . . 

Reffy successfully sold all of her papers. She was smiling as she walked around the streets of Manhattan, happy that she didn't have to deal with anymore rushed people just trying to find out what the daily headlines were.

"Hiya Ref." Jack said coming up to her. Reffy looked up at Jack and smiled.

"Hey Jack." She said putting her money in her pocket.

"You're going to Tibby's tonight, right?" He asked.

"Sure." She said nodding her head.

"I want you to meet some people." Jack replied and walked off. She noticed he still had some papers left.

"Hopefully no one like Ruby." She said to herself and laughed. 

"What's so funny?" Blink said coming up to her.

"Nothing... You done selling?" She asked.

"Yea, now I'm going to Harlem." He said putting his hands in his pockets and smiling.

"Ohh.. I see... Because that's where Fast is." She said nodding her head.

"You guessed it." He said.

"Take your time gettin there, I feel bad for the poor girl, I doubt she'll want to spend the whole day with you." She joked.

"Thanks Reffy." He said sarcastically and put both of his hands on her shoulders from behind.

"Anytime." She replied as he guided her through the crowds with both his hands on her shoulders.

"Go to Tibby's but don't steal anything or fight innocent little kids on the way." He joked.

"Get out of here." She said and pushed him away smiling. He laughed and made his way towards Harlem.

Reffy stopped walking and crossed her arms. She looked around and started laughing when she saw that she was right infront of the bakery.

She tucked her hair behind her ear and walked inside. The baker was cutting some bread for a lady at the front desk. So Reffy snatched something from the counter and ran out of the store. She tasted whatever it was, and liked it. She loved tasting all of the stuff that was in the bakery.

Reffy turned the corner to Tibby's. She knew everybody wasn't there yet but she had no where else to go. She was walking down the sidewalk when she heard Racetrack's voice. She stopped walking and looked around.

Race was walking towards Tibby's with Ruby by his side. Being the outspoken one of the group, Racetrack kept making wisecracks and Ruby would laugh at every one of them. She grabbed onto his arm as they walked through the door.

Reffy smirked and followed them inside. She walked up behind them and shoved between them so she was in the middle.

"So Ruby." She said immediately and smiled. "How's Spot?" She asked.

Ruby turned beat red. She knew Reffy saw her and Racetrack and how much she was flirting with him.

"Ref." Racetrack warned through his teeth.

"What? It was a question." She said and shrugged her shoulders.

Before Ruby or Racetrack could say anything Jack walked in with some other guys.

Reffy saw the look on Ruby and Race's faces and bit her lip. She had to keep herself from laughing but she couldn't help it. 

"Stop." Racetrack whispered to her. It made Reffy laugh outloud.

"I'm so sorry Race, but you gotta admit I had PERFECT timing." She said to him so Ruby couldn't hear.

Racetrack smiled but it erased from his face once Ruby looked at him.

Reffy linked her arm with Racetrack and buried her face in his shoulder. She couldn't help but laugh even harder. Racetrack started laughing also.

"You're in a good mood, Reffy." Jack said and laughed once he saw her trying to control her laughter with her face on Racetracks shoulder.

Reffy looked up and her face immediately dropped. It felt like her heart stopped and she could feel the red in her cheeks turn white.

"This is Black, William, and Tay." Jack said pointing to the guys who walked in with him.

Racetrack looked at Reffy and then back at the guys. The way Reffy was acting, he knew that something wasn't right.

"You guys, this is Reffy." Jack said pulling her close to him and putting his arm around her shoulder. She was still holding onto Race's arm.

"W-we met." She said trying to act normal.

"Yeah... Nice to see you again, Reffy." William said looking at her and smiling.

A sick feeling came to her stomach.

"They came from Queens because we haven't seen them for a while." Jack said.

"Yea the other guys should be here soon." Ruby said. "I'm Ruby." She said smiling at the 3 of them.

Ruby and Jack were talking to Black, William and Tay. Reffy let go of Race's arm and sat down at the booth on the opposite end of the restaurant. Racetrack looked at the guys, and then followed Reffy.

"What's wrong with you?" He asked. "How do you know them?"

"Met on the street." She replied.

"When?" He asked.

"...Last night." Reffy replied and put her legs up on the booth. She pulled her knees to her chest and bit her lip. 

"What happened? What'd they do to you??" Racetrack asked, knowing something was wrong.

Reffy faked a smile. "Nothing happened." She said.

Racetrack smiled back at her. "A'right, you got me worried." He said and stood up walking over to the other guys. 

After a little guy everybody filed into Tibby's.

"What's wrong, Reffy?" Mush asked walking over to her.

Reffy smiled at him. "Nothins wrong, I'm fine. Just hungry." She said.

Mush sat down across from her. "Yea me too." He said. They both ordered a little something to eat and Mush put his head down on the table.

"You look tired." Reffy said putting her feet back on the floor.

"I just finished sellin my last pape, it took me all day." He said picking his head up.

Reffy and Mush talked a little more when William walked over to them.

"Hey Reffy, can I talk to you?" He asked.

Reffy tensed up. She looked at Mush for help but he had no idea that something was wrong. She stood up and walked out the door with William.

"You ain't gonna tell Jack, right?" He asked.

"No." She replied simply.

"We was joking around last night." He said.

"Joking around is going up to random girls and kissing them just to test their reaction?? And then you threatened that you'd spread rumors about me and the leader of the Brooklyn Newsie's?!" She asked getting angry.

"Listen kid." He said grabbing her face with his hands. "I ain't gonna be nice to you anymore. If you tell Jack, I aint scared to hurt ya." He said.

"You want me to make a scene, William?" She said calmly.

"What are you talkin about?" He asked looking around making sure no one was watching.

"I could beat the shit out of you right here, right now. I'd let go of me or else you're gonna get soaked by a girl and your reputation will be over." She sneered.

William let her go, but pushed her into the brick wall. "You're lucky. If Jack didn't feel this way about you, you'd be done with." He said and walked back into Tibby's.

Pleeeaaase Review!

- Reffy


	12. Stealing

Reffy stood against the wall in shock. She knew William would hurt her if she told anybody about the night before. 

"Forget this." She whispered to herself. Reffy looked through the small window into Tibby's and noticed everybodys faces. All smiling, laughing, and talking. "Forget all of them."

She put her hands in her pockets and walked down the street. The night was dark, and a cold breeze was going through the air. She could feel chills running up and down her spine. 

Reffy stood at the top of the steps in the lodging house. It was completely empty, and the only thing she could think about was the way things use to be. Without somebody like Ruby around to mess everything up.

She quickly shook it off. As she walked towards her bed she felt another tear falling down her cheek.   
  
"What's goin on with me?" She thought to herself out loud. "I'm Reffy. Not some cry baby." She said quieter.

Reffy wiped the tear from her eye and laid her head down on the bed. She knew that life was tough, but had no idea it would be one girl like Ruby who would make it that way.

Next Day..

Reffy heard the sound of Kloppman's heavy boots walking slowly up the stairs. She rolled over in bed and closed her eyes as everybody started waking up to the sound of Kloppman's voice.

"I have nobody to sell with today!" Ruby yelled as she got up from her bed. Reffy felt her stomach twist inside of her, she had to start ignoring how much she hated Ruby.

"Find somebody then." Bumlets said in an obvious tone. Ruby rolled her eyes at him and walked towards Racetrack.

"She's really starting to aggrivate me." Bumlets said walking over to Jack. They were standing at the end of Reffy's bed.

Jack didn't answer, he just looked over at Ruby and watched as she started talking to Racetrack.

"Race?" She asked sweetly.

"Hiya Ruby." He said, combing his hair in the mirror.

"Can I tag along with you today?" She asked holding onto his arm that he wasn't using.

Race smiled. "Sure thing." He replied and put the comb down.

Race walked over to his bed to get his shoes when he noticed Reffy. She was still laying down and had her eyes shut.

"Ref!" He said kneeling down beside her. "Gotta sell the headlines, c'mon, get up!" He said, shaking her shoulder.

Reffy put her head in her pillow and shook her head. "No." She said in a muffled voice.

Racetrack was taken back by the way she was acting, so he started getting mad. "What do you mean, No? Huh? Jesus, Ref! You need the money, get up." He said pulling the pillow out from under her head.

"Didn't you hear me?!" She said sitting up and staring at him. "I said NO, I'm not selling today, so just go away! Go sell with Ruby, she's waiting for you." She said and put her head back down on her mattress.

Racetrack looked around the room to find Jack but realized that Jack already left to buy his papers.

He sighed. "A'right Reffy..." He said and stood up. Him and Ruby walked down the stairs, and soon everybody ran down to buy their papes.

Reffy reached over to Racetrack's bed and took his pillow. She laid her head down on it and sighed. She started hearing the newsies voices through the windows, but tried to block it out. She didn't know what she was doing, but she didn't want to go down and face the world. Not today.

She soon fell back asleep, but was roughly woken up by somebody a couple hours later.

"What the hell, Reffy!" The guy screamed.

Reffy opened her eyes but could barely see. Her vision cleared up and Jack was looking down at her.

"Go away." She said and closed her eyes.

Jack let out an aggrivated sigh and grabbed onto her arm. Before she knew it, Jack pulled her upwards.

"I'm not selling today." She said rubbing her eyes as she sat up in bed.

"Why? Why would you even THINK of skipping a day? You know you don't have any money. Now you're gonna go out on the street and STEAL it. And know where that's gonna get you? THE REFUGE. So go ahead, stay in bed, because when you get back to that place I'm not getting you out again." He said.

Reffy looked down at the covers on her bed. She wanted to tell him everything that was on her mind, but she knew that he wouldn't understand it. She just had to suck it up.

"Sorry." She said, her eyes never leaving the spot she was staring at.

Jack sighed and sat on the edge of her bed. "I just feel like I'm responsible for you. I feel like, if you go back to the refuge, it's my fault. Things have changed in there, all Snyder does is try and break you. You'll hate it there if you go back. Don't mess up on me, Ref. Don't do something stupid that will get you in there." He said.

Reffy always loved it when he talked to her like that. Jack was always tough, and a big ladies man, but when he talked to her like that she knew that inside he was a good person. She knew that nobody gets to see that side of him.

"It's no problem, Jack." She said getting out of bed. "I'll go get some papers now." She said.

Jack stood up and walked down the stairs. She noticed he had a stack of papers under his arm, and he barely sold any of them yet. 

Reffy quickly got ready and ran down the steps. She quickly turned back into her old self. 

She ran as fast as she could to go buy some papers. Once she had them, she dashed out into the streets, yelling the headlines so everybody would buy from her. 

After a couple of hours, Reffy sold all of her papers. She smiled, knowing that it was barely possible to wake up so late and get them all sold. She knew that she'd never try to pull something like that again. She just didn't want to see Ruby hanging all over Racetrack.

Reffy was walking slowly down the streets, watching everybody else. Reffy saw a lady in a bright white dress and a flowered hat. She noticed that she was holding hands with a little girl, probably her daughter.

Reffy sighed looking at the girl. If only she could live like that. With the dresses, jewelery, real food, and a real family. Reffy wasn't watching where she was going, and bumped into a man wearing a top hat.

"Move it." He sneered down at her. 

Reffy ignored him and looked back over to the lady and her daughter. The daughter took the hat off of her head and was swinging it as she walked. The mother dragged the girl along the sidewalk, and the little girl dropped her hat in a puddle.

Reffy bit her lip as the mother went down on her knees and started yelling at the little girl. Reffy was going to walk away, but noticed that the mother put her pocketbook on the ground beside her.

Forgetting what Jack has told her in the past, Reffy crossed the street and walked past them. She snatched the pocketbook quickly off of the ground and started running.

She heard the lady screaming for people to chase her, but Reffy never looked back. She ran down the streets, dodging people as fast as she could. She finally looked back to see if anybody was chasing her when she ran into somebody.

"Watch where you're goin!" A man yelled. He sounded familiar.

Reffy looked up and saw Spot Conlon.

"Reffy? What are you doin running like that, what's your problem, huh?" He asked adjusting the hat on his head.

Reffy hid the pocketbook behind her back and shrugged her shoulders. "No reason." She said.

Spot looked her straight in the eye and raised his eyebrows. He stood closer to her and reached his arm behind her back. 

"No reason, eh?" He said grabbing the pocketbook.

Reffy opened her mouth to say something when she saw a man running towards her.

"RUN!" She screamed, grabbing Spot's arm. They ran down the streets as fast as they could and hid in an alley.

"What did I tell you?!" Spot said, practically out of breath.

"I know I know... Sorry." She said, making sure the coast was clear.

"No. You're not." He said. "Where's Ruby?" He asked.

Reffy rolled her eyes. "With Race somewhere." She said opening the pocketbook and searching through it.

Spot's eyes got wide. "She's with Racetrack?!" He yelled.

"Yea." Reffy said, still going through the pocketbook.

She pulled out a bunch of money and started counting it, but stopped abruptly. She looked up and saw the look of anger across Spot's face.

"You're mad that she's with Racetrack, aren't ya." She said smiling.

"No." Spot said, shaking his head.

"Yea, you are." She teased.

"I'm not!" He said, a smirk appeared on his face.

"Awwww! Spot Conlon... Scared that little Racetrack Higgins is gonna steal his girl away from him." She said, looking up at him and smiling.

"What about you, huh? Reffy from Manhattan... Scared that a girl like Ruby is gonna steal every guy away from you, and take your best friend from you too." Spot teased.

The smile wiped off Reffy's face. "I ain't scared Ruby's gonna take Race away from me." She said.

"That's what I've been hearing. That you're nothing but JEALOUS of Ruby." Spot replied.

"Jealous? Of RUBY? Why would I ever be jealous of her?! Who the hell would say that? Tell me, I'm gonna kill who ever said that." She said and clenched her fists.

Spot looked at Reffy and smirked. "That's what I like about ya, Ref." Spot said, looking out of the alley to the crowded street. "Always up for a good fight." He said and walked away from her in search of Ruby.


	13. I'm Leaving You

Thanks ALOT for the reviews you guys! It means so much. I hope this story isnt confusing! If you wanna ask a question, or comment on something, or just talk you can e-mail me.  
  
Reffy shoved the money back into the pocketbook and made her way down the street. She saw Blink standing there counting his money he made for the day and smiled at him.  
  
"Hiya Blink." She said putting her arm around his shoulder. He was taller, so she had to stand up on her toes to reach him.  
  
"Ref, I gotta talk to you about Race." Blink said taking her arm off his shoulder and putting his arm around hers.  
  
"What is it?" She asked looking up at him while they walked down the street.  
  
"He was pretty mad, Ref.." Blink said raising his eyebrows as he looked infront of him. "Pretty mad." He repeated.  
  
"What? Why?" She asked.  
  
"This morning. When he was walking with Ruby after they bought their papes." Blink replied.  
  
A look of disgust went onto Reffy's face. "Ruby. It figures." She said and shook her head.  
  
Blink smirked. "He said that you changed, and that he liked the old Reffy." He said.  
  
"Me? I've changed? Blink, cmon, you gotta undertand. I haven't changed! It's everybody who is suddenly in love with Ruby that changed." She said.  
  
"Nah.. Sorry Reffy. It ain't them, it's you. You just don't seem as happy as you were before. You're not working hard enough to get your money, you're not there when somebody has a problem to help them out, and you barely have time for Racetrack anymore." Blink said.  
  
"Maybe because HE'S ALWAYS WITH RUBY..?" She said obviously.  
  
Blink smirked again. "You do hate that girl, huh." He replied.  
  
"Who else said I changed?" She asked, ignoring what he said.  
  
"The boys. All of them. Crutchy said you aint changed." Blink replied.  
  
"Yea well that's because Crutchy's the only one with brains." She said and looked up at Blink.  
  
Blink just rolled his eyes. "Reffy, my point is that you gotta stop. What was with this morning? Not getting out of bed? That's not the old Reffy."  
  
"You don't know anything about me then, Blink." She said quietly.  
  
They turned a corner and were on the street going towards the LH.  
  
"Even Jack said that somethings wrong with you. You know he's like your big brother, but something has been bothering him lately. I dunno if it's because he's mad cuz of the way you're acting, or because he's in love with ya or something." Blink said and laughed.  
  
Reffy raised her eyebrows. "What you talkin about?" She asked.  
  
Blink shook his head. "Nothin. Something's wrong with Spot too. He's got this bad feeling about you. I think everyone does. I don't wanna say this to make you mad, but you's gotta realize what they're saying about you." He said sympathetically.  
  
Reffy looked infront of them. The door to the LH was a little more down the street. She took in a deep breath and stopped walking.  
  
Blink removed his hand from around her shoulder and looked at her. "What is it?" He asked.  
  
Reffy faked a smile. She looked up at him. "Thanks for tellin me, Blink." She said. "But there's something I gotta do." She said gripping the pocketbook harder.  
  
"Don't be out late. Jack will go crazy." He said. He playfully punchd her shoulder and walked the rest of the way to the LH alone.  
  
Reffy looked down at the pocketbook and took out the money again. She looked around the street and smiled.  
  
"I'm gonna miss this place." She said to herself. Giving one last look at the street, she smiled again. The sun was almost down.  
  
Reffy rested her eyes on the LH and bit her lip. "Here goes nothin." She said and turned around.  
  
Reffy walked down the streets. It was cold, and getting darker every minute.  
  
After what seemed like forever, she finally reached her destination. Holding the money from the pocketbook, she walked into the train yards.  
  
"Where to?" The man asked.  
  
"Um.." Reffy said quietly, looking at the destinations where she could go.  
  
"Boston." She said finally, and handed the man her money.  
  
"Round trip?" He asked. She could feel him staring at her, knowing that she was obviously a newsie.  
  
"No." She said and moved her eyes from the train to him. "One way." She said.  
  
"One way to Boston." He said handing her a ticket.  
  
Reffy took the ticket and stared at it. She walked towards the door to the train and looked up at the sky.  
  
"One way to Boston?" A worker said staring at her ticket.  
  
"Yeah." She said, a little startled.  
  
"You live there?" He asked.  
  
"I will now." She said and shrugged her shoulders.  
  
"You got family there?" He asked. Reffy was mad he asked so many questions.  
  
"No." She said shaking her head. "But I'll come back to New York. Definetly. I'll come back." She said and smiled at the man.  
  
He took her ticket and Reffy went on the train.  
  
-------  
  
Back with the Boys..  
  
"Where's Reffy?" Jack asked looking around.  
  
"She said she had to go do something." Blink said. He was playing cards with Race.  
  
"What does she have to do on the streets when it's dark out?" Jack asked and let out an agrivated sigh.  
  
"She'll be fine, Jack." Racetrack said looking at his cards.  
  
Ruby walked up to Jack and held onto his strong arm. "You are so tense." She said and smiled up at him. "Why worry about her? The girl probably knows what she's doing."  
  
Jack nodded his head. "Yea. Guess you're right." He said.  
  
Racetrack folded his cards and looked out the window. 'Its gettin dark' he thought to himself.  
  
But he had no idea that Reffy was looking at her window, wondering if anybody was thinking about her.  
---- THIS IS FAAAAARRRR FROM OVER! Dont worry. Things will get better! 


	14. Missing

Racetrack woke up the next morning before anybody. He had a bad feeling in his stomach, but had no idea what it could have been. It was just another morning, but something wasn't right.  
  
He sat up in his bed and looked around. All the boys were sleeping. He could see Ruby sleeping silently in her bed, and then looked over at Reffy. Whenever Race woke up early, he'd wake Reffy up and they'd either go sit on the roof of the LH and watch the sun go up, or just play some tricks on the newsies while they were sleeping.  
  
"Reffy." Racetrack whispered looking over at her bed. He rubbed his eyes and looked again, but nobody was there.  
  
He got up and looked around the room, but there was no sign of her.  
  
"What the hell... Reffy??" Race said loudly as he walked around the room seeing if she fell asleep somewhere.  
  
The sound of his voice woke up the other newsies.  
  
"Race Race, calm down, what's goin on?" Mush asked noticing that Racetrack was getting nervous.  
  
"Reffy never came home last night. She's not here." He said. After he said that, all of the newsies got out of their beds.  
  
"Whoa, wait a second," Jack said walking up to them. "Maybe she just started early today." He said, trying not to think of the bad possibilities that could have happened.  
  
All of the newsies just looked at him. It was silent until Crutchy spoke up.  
  
"Jack... Wake up. This is REFFY we're talking about here. You think that girl would ever start working early when she could be sleeping? Maybe something happened to her." Crutchy said looking back over to Racetrack.  
  
"She just said she had to go do something." Blink said.  
  
"We all fell asleep last night, nobody saw her come in." Mush replied, and looked over at Jack.  
  
"She'll come back." He said with confidence. "It's Reffy. She's too scared to be far from this place. She's not as tough as she seems. Don't worry about it, she's probably just aching for some attention." He said.  
  
Ruby woke up because of the racket, and ignored what they were saying. She was finished getting ready when she walked over to Racetrack.  
  
"Why so sad today?" She asked.  
  
"Reffy's not here." He said.  
  
"Good." Ruby said and smiled at him. "Now come on, let's get going, get ready!" She said and rubbed his cheek with the back of her hand.  
  
Racetrack started getting mad. "Ruby, I meant she's NOT here. She didn't come home last night. We don't know where she is." He said and moved his face to get away from her hand.  
  
"Oh." Was all Ruby said as she walked away.  
  
--- Reffy walked through the dirt roads of Boston. Unlike New York, she had no sense of comfort knowing where she was going. She looked around and couldn't help but stare at the people who were so use to living there.  
  
After what seemed like forever, she walked past a large gate. She couldn't make out what the sign said, all she could see was the word 'Mills'.  
  
Being the curious girl that she was, Reffy climbed through the gate and walked down a long dirt path until she reached a large building. She looked up to the second floor and saw dark and foggy windows. She could faintly see people walking past them.  
  
"You there." An woman said from the door of the building. "Who are you? What is your business here?" She asked.  
  
Reffy looked over at her and could barely move. It wasn't that she was scared, but she didn't know if she should run or answer the woman.  
  
"I, um... I was just.. I'm not from around here, and... I got lost." Reffy stuttered.  
  
"Where are you from?" The woman asked. She looked to be in her 40's. Her hair was tied back in a tight bun, and she could see strands of grey in her brown hair. She was wearing a long black dress, and stood up very straight.  
  
"Manhattan. In New York." Reffy said nervously.  
  
"You have family here?" The woman asked.  
  
Reffy walked closer to the woman and shook her head. "No. Just family back in New York." She said thinking about all of her newsies. "I'm here on my own." She said looking up into the woman's blue eyes.  
  
"Come with me, then." The woman said grabbing Reffy's wrist and pulling her into the large building. Reffy was scared, she knew she should have ran when she had the change.  
  
She was pulled into a large room, with a man sitting behind a desk.  
  
"What is it?" The old man asked. He scowled at the sight of Reffy, but then looked back up at the woman.  
  
"A new worker." The woman replied. Reffy looked up at the woman in surprise.  
  
The old man lit his cigar. "Put her to work, then." He said and faced the other way.  
  
Reffy was confused by the whole thing, but kept her mouth shut. Once her and the woman walked out of the room, she looked at the woman and raised her eyebrows.  
  
"A new worker? I'm a worker? What is going on here?" She asked with her usual attitude.  
  
The woman narrowed her eyes. "Listen here, Girl." She said and pointed a finger at Reffy. "Do you have any money?" She asked.  
  
"No."  
  
"Do you have a job here?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Then now you're a mill girl." The woman replied and led her up a set of stairs. 


	15. Life of a Mill Girl

The building was humid, and smelled of fumes. As they got higher up the stairs, Reffy could hear a loud noise from what seemed like a large factory upstairs.  
  
Once they reached the top, Reffy knew exactly where she was. A cotton mill. She knew about these, but they rarely had some around where the LH was.  
  
"This is Margie. She will show you what to do, and what the rules are. We here are very strict when it comes to rules. If you break the rules, then you're out of here with no pay. If you have any questions, ask Margie." The lady said quickly and walked out of the room.  
  
Reffy looked around at the machines and looked at Margie.  
  
"Ever worked at a mill?" Margie asked.  
  
"No. I've never seen one before. God, this all happened so fast." Reffy said, still in shock. "I mean, I just got here." Reffy replied.  
  
Margie wiped her forehead and shook her head at Reffy. "You made a bad choice to come here." Margie said.  
  
"Why...?"  
  
"I'll show you around..." Margie said loudly over the noise.  
  
Reffy followed Margie, and listened to everything she had to say.  
  
"We wake up every morning to the bell at 4:30. By the time the second bell rings, you have to be up here and at your machine. At 7:00 we get to eat breakfast, but I would watch what you eat because it's never fresh. Then we come back to work, and get a 10 minute lunch break. You work until 7:00 at night, and you have to be in bed by 10:00, no later." Margie explained.  
  
"Why so many rules?" Reffy asked.  
  
"Why so many questions?" Margie replied back, and continued talking. "You're going to live in a boarding house. How old are you?" Margie asked.  
  
"I'll be 16 soon." Reffy replied.  
  
"Ok, well I'm 18 so you'll be in my boarding house. There's about 30 of us. It's horrible, really... Crowded. I'm only here to pay for my brother to go to college. Why are you here?" Margie asked.  
  
"I have no family around here. No money, I guess." Reffy replied.  
  
Margie decided not to talk about that, and explained more about the life Reffy was about to live. "It's tough, you know." Margie explained. "Working 12 hours a day, just spinning cotton into thread."  
  
"Well it's obviously going to be hard when it's 100 degrees in this place," Reffy said. "Let's open a window." Reffy walked over to the window and noticed that it was board shut.  
  
"You can't. They stay closed. The thread needs to be damp, or it will break." Margie said. "By the way, what's your name?" She asked.  
  
Reffy looked around the mill. Hundreds of loud machines giving her a headache, and watching all of the girls working as hard as they were to get their money, she lost track of her thought. She finally snapped out of it and looked up at Margie.  
  
"My name's Reffy." She said, stating the only name she's known since she was a child. "Well, teach me what I have to do here, because I don't think I'm going to have enough money to go back to New York unless I work here for a while." Reffy said and followed Margie to a machine that she'd be sweating over for longer than she would have ever expected.  
  
--- Back at the LH, the boys were scared. They didn't know if Reffy was on the streets, killed, or just went to visit somebody. Ofcourse, Ruby didn't care. She loved being the only girl. Word spread around about Reffy, and all the newsies all over New York kept their eye out for her. Even Spot Conlon walked the streets every night, hoping that he'd see her somewhere, although once Fall passed and Winter was there, he lost hope. There was no word from her. They all expected the worst.  
  
The newsies all became quiet. They carried on work as usual, but never knew what had happened to Reffy. Jack and Racetrack barely talked to anybody. They'd go out after selling their papes, smiling, having fun... But every night while they tried to go to sleep, the frowns would appear on all of the boys faces.  
  
Ruby made her way around with the guys. She was on and off with Racetrack, and she'd spend some nights in Brooklyn with Spot. Jack even used her a couple of times, but it never really meant anything to him. Jack was always with a new girl.  
  
Then, Racetrack came in late a dark night in November. It was cold and dry outside, so he tried warming up as fast as he could.  
  
"Racetrack," He heard somebody say from the steps. It was Crutchy.  
  
"Yea?"  
  
Crutchy saw the look on Racetrack's face and knew that he was thinking of Reffy.  
  
"Crutchy, what is it?" Racetrack asked, wondering what was so important. He starting rubbing his hands together to warm them up.  
  
"We got a letter today," Crutchy said. Racetrack stopped moving his hands and looked up at him. "....It's from Reffy."  
  
Racetrack's eyes got wide. His jaw dropped open slightly, and the cigar he was holding fell to the floor.  
  
"We just got it, haven't opened it yet," Crutchy explained quickly, seeing the way Racetrack reacted. "It's from Boston."  
  
REVIEW!! 


	16. Aint Gonna Worry

"BOSTON?!" Racetrack exclaimed loudly as he bolted up the stairs past Crutchy.  
  
"Race!" Blink yelled when he saw him. "We just got it." He said pointing at Jack who was opening the envelope.  
  
Racetrack ran over to Jack and ripped the envelope out of his hands, opening it as fast as he could. Race was so anxious to read what was in the letter that he didn't even realize that Spot was there as well.  
  
"What's it say?" Mush asked, as they all crowded around Racetrack.  
  
"Hey hey..." Spot said pushing everybody back. "Give the man some room."  
  
Racetrack sat on top of one of the bunk beds. He took a big deep breath and started reading.  
  
---  
  
Hi boys,  
  
It's me.. Reffy. I don't know how to say it so I'm just gonna say it.. I'm in Boston. I'm sorry for leaving so fast, without telling anybody, but I had to.  
  
---  
  
"Reffy, what are you doing?" Margie asked as she walked into the boarding house one cold night. Reffy looked up at her with tired eyes.  
  
"Just writing to somebody." Reffy said, covering up the peice of paper with her arm.  
  
"Oh, your family in New York?" Margie asked as she moved closer to the fire.  
  
Reffy smiled. "Yea, my family in New York."  
  
Margie didn't know anything about Reffy's past. She didn't know that she was a newsie, or spent time in a jail for kids, or anything about how much trouble she'd get into. Margie knew nothing about any of the newsies, just that Reffy was a girl from New York.  
  
Reffy pulled the blanket she had around her shoulders closer to her neck. It was freezing in the boarding house, with just the fire to warm up the girls. It was always cold in that boarding house.  
  
"Night Reffy." Margie yawned as she walked up the stairs.  
  
"Good night, Marg." Reffy said looking at the stairs and waiting until the coast was clear.  
  
Reffy looked nothing like herself anymore. She was the complete opposite of a newsie. She wore a long black dress that was torn and old. Her friend from the mills, Pip, had given it to her. Pip worked next to her at the machines, and they became close friends.  
  
Every morning at breakfast Margie would pin Reffy's hair back out of her face, that way it wouldn't get in the way while she worked. Also, her skin got paler. She wasn't out in the sun anymore, so her tan quickly faded.  
  
Reffy picked up her paper, and sat down next to the fire. Pulling the blanket around her again, she leaned down and continued writing the letter to the friends she missed so much.  
  
---  
  
I'm doing ok. I got a job at a mill... Yeah, that's what I said, a MILL. I'm a factory girl. I bet you all would never picture that.  
  
Factory life has definetly made me work for my money. The machines are so loud, sometimes you feel like your ears are going to stop working because they can't take the noise. The room is humid and always full of fumes. Sometimes I can't breathe, and when I run to the window, I can't even open it because they're nailed shut.  
  
I've gotten use to it.  
  
---  
  
Reffy looked into the fire and let out a long sigh. The girls were asleep, and the only noise in the boarding house was the sound of the fire crackling. A small tear rolled quickly down her rosy cheek, but she wiped it off and continued writing.  
  
---  
  
I have a lot of friends here. Margie and Pip are practically sisters to me. I had a friend that I met one night. Her name was Cynthia, and we were both practically caught because we were out past curfew. But don't worry Jack, I'm not getting into any trouble around here.  
  
Well, Cynthia was 15. She came here from Ireland, and she was trying to pay for her mother to get treatment because she has cancer or somethin. I found out last night that Cynthia died yesterday morning. She inhaled so much stuff in the factory that something happened and she couldn't breathe. I'm gonna miss her.  
  
---  
  
"What the hell is she doing?!" Jack exclaimed. "A factory girl? She's a newsie. Not some factory girl. She's gonna die in Boston if she stays there.."  
  
Jack got cut off by somebody shoving him. It was Spot.  
  
"Shut up, Jack! Let him finish reading." Spot said and looked back at Racetrack. All the boys were quiet, and listened to every word that Racetrack read.  
  
---  
  
I've been working really hard lately to get enough money to buy some new shoes. I'm still wearing the ones that me and Race stole from the shoe maker.  
  
---  
  
Reffy couldn't help but smile. The shoemaker was a friend of theirs, so they gave him papers free for a week and he'd give them shoes in return. When he never gave them the shoes, they decided to take them anyway. Reffy tucked a loose piece of hair behind her ear and continued writing.  
  
---  
  
Maybe if I get enough money I could come visit you guys.  
  
I like it here. The work is hard, but I know it will pay off. I'm living a life I never thought I'd live. So just be happy for me, ok?  
  
I wake up earlier than even the sun wakes up in the morning. So, I need to go to sleep.  
  
Tell Race that I think about him everyday. And that I'm sorry for everything.  
  
And tell Jack that I'm staying out of trouble. Because that's all he ever thought about.  
  
And tell Blink I said thanks for everything that night that I left. Tell him not to feel bad, but to feel happy because I'm glad he told me those things.  
  
And to everybody else ... I miss ya. Tell Conlon that I miss him, too. You never know, you might see me again.  
  
Love From Reffy  
  
---  
  
Racetrack read the last line slowly and put the paper down on the bed. He turned his head as a tear ran down his cheek. He jumped off the bed and ran down the stairs.  
  
"Oh man..." Crutchy said, looking around the room.  
  
Jack stared at the piece of paper on the bed. "Tell Jack that I'm staying out of trouble.. Because that's all he ever thought about." He said, repeating what Reffy had said in the letter. Jack ran his fingers through his hair and shook his head.  
  
"It's ok, Jack." Boots said, seeing the look on Jack's face.  
  
"If Reffy wants to ruin her life, then fine, I ain't gonna worry about her. If she wants to die in a factory, then she can do it. She's just stupid, and I ain't gonna worry about her anymore. It was HER choice." He said.  
  
Jack took the letter and crumpled it up. He threw it on the ground and stormed out of the room.  
  
Blink walked up to the paper and picked it up.  
  
Ruby sat in a corner. She smiled, knowing that Reffy would never be back.  
  
"What are you smiling about?" Blink asked, his voice sounded like it would crack any minute.  
  
Ruby shrugged her shoulders and stood up. "Nothing." She replied and walked over to Spot. He was sitting on a bed on the other side of the room, staring at the ground.  
  
"Conlon, come on, let's go back to your place." She said and sat down beside him.  
  
Spot looked over at Ruby and his eyes narrowed. "Get the hell away from me." He said, his eyes filled with anger.  
  
Spot stood up and walked down the stairs and out of the LH. 


	17. Boston Newsies

Hiya dolls! Sorry for the lack of updates... This was originally suppose to be 2 different chapters... but I felt really bad for not updating, so I put them together. The beginning may seem boring, but this is a VERY important chapter. Thanks a lot to EVERYBODY who reviewed!  
  
**  
The work bell rang and a feeling of happiness went through Reffy. She was tired, and just wanted to go to sleep.  
  
It was now Spring. Winter was cold and harsh, but she made it through. The weather was getting warmer everyday.  
  
Once she made her way to the house, she got greeted by all of her friends that she made while working at the mill.  
  
"FI!" One of them screamed. Her name was Polly. She always wore her hair in pigtails, and looked like she was 14, when she was really 17. Reffy was turning 16 soon.  
  
The girls at the mill started calling Reffy "Fi" ... She didn't like it at first, but she didn't care anymore.  
  
"We're going to go out tonight. Margie can get us some beer." Pippin said and smiled. Piper was one of Reffy's new best friends.  
  
"I am NOT... You just assumed that. All I said was that I know a guy who has a lot of it." Margie said, her cheeks turning red.  
  
A girl with blonde hair and green eyes walked into the room with a huge smile on her face.  
  
"Ok, Marg..." The girl said. "Let's go before it gets dark." Her name was Diane.  
  
"DIANE!" Margie explained. "I'm not getting you guys anything this week."  
  
"You all of the sudden are going to STOP?!" Piper exclaimed. "Maaargggg.... You never had a problem with getting us beer before." She whined.  
  
"If I get caught then I'll get fired." Margie said seriously.  
  
"Come on, Marg. Reffy's an alcoholic, she needs a weekly fix." Polly said, and all the girls started laughing.  
  
"SHUT UP!" Reffy yelled and started laughing. "That's not true."  
  
"Not this week, I'm serious." Margie said and walked out of the house.  
  
All the girls sighed.  
  
"Better luck next week..." Diane said sarcastically.  
  
"I didn't feel like drinking tonight anyways..." Reffy said looking out the window.  
  
Piper laughed. "Yea, right." She said.  
  
"What's wrong with you today?" Polly asked. "You're not yourself."  
  
"Just thinking about stuff." Reffy replied. She was thinking about the newsies.  
  
"Me too." Piper said. "I been thinking about my family." She said sadly. Piper's family died when she was young. She was working at that mill for practically her whole life.  
  
"What was your family like, Fi?" Diane asked.  
  
"You don't wanna know about my family." Reffy replied. She didn't like lying to the girls, so she never talked about her family.  
  
"How come every time we mention them, you all of the sudden get sad about it? What's going on? Tell us the truth this time, Fi. I know something's going on that you're not telling us." Piper said.  
  
Reffy started getting angry. "I DON'T HAVE ONE, OK?!" She snapped. All of the girls sat down and kept quiet.  
  
"I never knew them. I grew up on the damn streets when I was a kid. I don't know why you would want to know about that!!" Reffy yelled.  
  
"I thought you wrote to your family once...?" Diane said, raising her eyebrows.  
  
"I wrote to the newsies." Reffy said.  
  
"What?!" All the girls said at once.  
  
"I sold papers before I came here." Reffy said, not able to look them in the eye.  
  
"Why'd you leave?" Polly asked.  
  
Reffy continued telling them her story. She explained all of the boys, and also told them about Ruby and how she basically tried to ruin her life.  
  
"Wait," Polly said, interupting Reffy's story. "How did you meet Jack anyway? Just on the street?" She asked.  
  
Reffy bit her lip. She didn't want any of them to ask that.  
  
"I met him in the Refuge." She said quietly.  
  
"What's that?" Diane asked.  
  
"It's a jail," Reffy explained. "For kids."  
  
"REFFY!" Diane yelled. "You were in JAIL and you never told us about it?!"  
  
"It's REALLY not that big of a deal." Reffy said, trying to control her anger.  
  
"It's jail." Polly said. "Ofcourse it's a big deal."  
  
"The only thing bad about it was Snyder. This big shot who made things hell around there... After a while he got fired, but he got his job back." Reffy explained. Since he came back the Refuge was much worse.  
  
"I know some newsies around here." Piper said, trying to change the subject.  
  
"Yea, right!" Polly yelled. "If you knew those boys I definitely would have known by now." She said.  
  
"Nooo..." Piper said, shaking her head. "I don't know any of the boys. I know some of the girls."  
  
Reffy raised her eyebrows. "You know some girl newsies?" She asked.  
  
"Yeah. I'm friends with the leader of one of the houses... Her name's Gracie." She explained.  
  
Reffy smirked. "I wanna meet her."  
  
"NO... You don't." Diane said, shaking her head. "That girl is bad news."  
  
"I can take her," Reffy replied. "Besides, I just wanna see what it's like. I was in a house with the boys, I never saw a house with just newsgirls before. They were around but I stayed away from them."  
  
"Did you have a lot of friends who were girls in New York?" Piper asked.  
  
"Nah... Last girl newsie I talked to I had to punch a couple of times." She said laughing. "Only because she decided to go out with Racetrack and I didn't like her." She smirked.  
  
"I just don't think that's a good idea, Fi..." Diane replied.  
  
"Can we go see her?" Reffy asked Piper.  
  
"Sure." Piper replied.  
  
"Tomorrow morning?" Reffy asked again.  
  
"That's crazy, just forget about it." Diane said.  
  
"Sure." Piper replied.  
  
Diane looked at Polly and shook her head. "I'm not going." She said.  
  
"Aw c'mon, why not?!" Reffy asked.  
  
"I'm not going either..." Polly said.  
  
Reffy rolled her eyes.  
  
"You don't understand..." Polly said. "She's not somebody you wanna see."  
  
"You got an attitude, Fi." Diane said. "God knows I love you for it, but Gracie ain't gonna appreciate that."  
  
"She's gonna have to." Reffy said and headed for the stairs up to their beds.  
  
"She's gonna be dead by tomorrow night." Diane joked, and they all headed up to bed.  
  
----  
  
Reffy walked down the streets, every once in a while looking up at the sky, which was starting to turn colors. She's seen so many sunrises, but she forgot what they looked like from outside. She only saw them over her shoulder while she was working, through the windows of the humid building she was confined to.  
  
"Are we there yet?" Reffy asked Piper.  
  
"Almost." Piper explained as they turned another corner.  
  
Reffy yawned and rubbed her eyes, and walked slowly behind Piper.  
  
"Wake up," Piper said. "There they are."  
  
Reffy looked up to see a bunch of girls standing in a group.  
  
"That's them?" She asked.  
  
"Yea. They're buying their papers, right? That's what you do in the morning, right? They're waiting in a line or something," Piper said looking at Reffy's reaction.  
  
"Right." Reffy said quietly. "It's just that... I dunno. Let's go." She said as she walked towards the group of girls.  
  
There were about 10 of them. They definetly looked like newsies, but instead of there being a ramp, it was just a window on the side of a building that they got their papers from.  
  
"Piper, that you?" A girl asked, walking out of the group and towards Piper and Reffy.  
  
She looked about 17, with long, straight brown hair, and bright green eyes. She had dirt on her cheek, and her clothes were similar to what Reffy wore back in New York.  
  
"This is Gracie, the leader of the newsgirls around here." Piper said to Reffy.  
  
"Who's this?" Gracie said, looking at Reffy. Gracie definitely seemed like the leader. Probably had a reputation of being tough, just like Reffy had.  
  
"This is Reffy," Piper answered. "She was a newsie in New York."  
  
"What part?" Gracie asked, raising her eyebrows, still looking at Reffy.  
  
"Does that mattah, huh? It doesn't. So why you askin?" Reffy replied.  
  
"The city." Gracie replied, looking away from Reffy and facing Piper. "You can tell from the accent. Although it sounds like it's fading away. How long you been here?" Gracie asked.  
  
"About a year." Reffy replied.  
  
"Why'd you leave and come here?" Gracie asked.  
  
"Why so many questions?" Reffy replied. She sighed, and decided that there was no point to argue with her. "I had to get away from some of the newsies at my Lodging House." She said.  
  
"I dated this guy from New York. Manhattan or something..." Gracie said, trailing off. "It doesn't matter though. What do you want? I gotta go buy." She said, nodding back to where she needed to buy her papers.  
  
"Reffy just wanted to see what you girls were like..." Piper explained, but Reffy interupted her.  
  
"Manhattan? Did you say Manhattan?!" She asked.  
  
Gracie ran her fingers through her hair. "Yea." She replied simply. It sounded as if it was an uncomfortable topic for her.  
  
"What was his name?" Reffy asked, her stomach was practically in knots.  
  
"I don't know, I forget." She lied. "I lived outside of the city a couple years back."  
  
"Gracie... You ok?" Piper asked, seeing Gracie's cheeks turn red.  
  
"His name's Jack. Do you know a Jack?" Gracie asked.  
  
Reffy raised her eyebrows. "Jack... Kelly? Well, no, not THAT Jack. He never mentioned you before... There might have been a Jack while I was in the Refu..." Reffy stuttered over her words. "While I wasn't living there." She corrected herself.  
  
Gracie looked down towards her feet.  
  
"GRACIE!" A blonde girl screamed from the line of girls buying papers. "Let's go!"  
  
Gracie ignored the girl, and slowly looked back up at Reffy.  
  
"THAT Jack?" Reffy asked, completely in shock. "N-not Jack Kelly..." She said, shaking her head.  
  
"Yea. That Jack. He, um... He used to sell in my neighborhood. It was just a couple month thing, no big deal." Gracie said. Her toughness was slowly disappearing.  
  
"That's not true. I mean, I'm a million miles from those guys right now. I'm in Boston... You're in Boston. You're trying to tell me that the ONE newsie that I meet here went out with the same guy that got me out of the..." She stopped short, again almost making a mistake about mentioning the Refuge.. "You're lying." She finished and shook her head.  
  
"MOM!"  
  
Gracie turned around to see a little girl with light brown hair and green eyes run up to her. "Go back, sweetheart. I'll be there in a minute." Gracie said quietly to the little girl.  
  
"Who's that?" The little girl said, looking up at Reffy.  
  
Gracie looked at Reffy, then back down to the little girl. She took a deep breath and bent down so her face was infront of her.  
  
"She knows your daddy. Now go back, and I'll be there in a second." Gracie said, and stood back up.  
  
Reffy's eyes got wide. "Excuse me?" She asked.  
  
Gracie looked at Piper. "I gotta go .. I'll see you later, Pip." She said and turned around.  
  
Reffy ran after her.  
  
"GRACIE, listen to me! I gotta know what's going on here." She said grabbing Gracie by the shoulder and spinning her around.  
  
Gracie pushed Reffy away and glared at her. "What do you think you're doing?" She said.  
  
"What the hell are you talking about? What did you just tell that little girl?" Reffy asked, ignoring the other girl newsies behind Gracie who were about ready to attack her.  
  
"Come back tonight. 10:30. Meet me here." Gracie said quietly so the other girls couldn't hear her.  
  
"That's past curfew." Piper said, coming up from behind Reffy.  
  
Gracie turned around and went up to the window to buy her papers. The other newsgirls stood there and waited for Reffy to leave, all of them narrowing their eyes at her, ready to make their move if she seemed like a threat.  
  
Reffy just stood there with her jaw dropped slightly open.  
  
"Fi, come on." Piper said, grabbing Reffy's arm and pulling her down the street.  
  
"THAT'S JACK'S DAUGHTER?" Reffy yelled to Gracie as she was getting pulled down the street.  
  
Gracie ignored Reffy and started walking away, never turning around to face her.  
  
"JACK'S A FATHER? HE..HE HAS A CHILD?" Reffy yelled louder, tears forming in her eyes and rolling down her cheek.  
  
"We gotta get going." Piper said softly, pulling Reffy harder.  
  
"Piper." Reffy said, pulling her arm out of Piper's grasp and staring her in the eye. "That was Jack's little girl." She said. Her voice was shaking and a look of shock was still all over her face.  
  
Piper couldn't look her in the eye. They walked back to the factory in complete silence, just making it in time for the first bell. The work day had begun. 


	18. GoodBye Boston

This is a huge chapter. I'm so sorry that it's getting really stupid, but it's gonna change. You'll see. Just read it!  
  
FOR SHOUT OUTS go to the place where Chapter 15 is suppose to be. I'll have allllll my shout-outs there from now on! So always check back there if you reviewed. This chapter is basically going to suck, but it needs to be here. LAST BOSTON CHAPTER, I PROMISE!  
  
**  
"Reffy, I don't think we should do this..." Diane said as they ran out of the house at 10:00 that night.  
  
"Then go back, I need to know what's going on." Reffy said and continued running.  
  
Piper, Diane, and Polly decided to come along.  
  
"This is where she wanted to meet us, right?" Reffy asked, looking around. She bit her bottom lip lightly, but tried not to show how nervous she was.  
  
"Yea... Right here." Piper said quietly. They stood on the corner and waited for Gracie to arrive.  
  
-- New York -  
  
"Heya, Jack..." Racetrack said, running into the Lodging House. Jack was up there, looking in the mirror.  
  
"Hiya Race." Jack said in a very good mood.  
  
"Where you's going?" Race asked, walking closer to where Jack was.  
  
"Just out to see Chelsea again." Jack replied.  
  
"Chelsea..." Racetrack said quietly, trying to think of who she was. "Wait, wait... Wait a second. The girl from last week?"  
  
Jack smiled. "Yea, that's her."  
  
"Why you going to see HER again?" Race asked. It was very unlikely for Jack to have a girlfriend for over a week. He had a tendency to only see them for a week, then go right on to another girl.  
  
"Dunno." Jack said simply. "I think I like her."  
  
Racetrack started laughing. "She easy or something?" He was leaning back against a wall next to one of the bunks.  
  
Jack turned around to face him. "Don't say that about Chelsea. Ever again, you understand?" He said getting angry.  
  
Racetrack stood up and put his hands in the air. "Calm down, Jack. I didn't think you really liked her. I never knew you were like that."  
  
Jack sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "I like her, a'right? It's different this time."  
  
"If you say so." Racetrack replied.  
  
"We didn't have this conversation." Jack said in his usual voice, turning his back on him and walking towards the stairs.  
  
"Good luck, Cowboy." Racetrack said, lighting his cigar that he had in his front pocket.  
  
Things changed since Reffy was gone. Jack had a new girl every week, mostly just using her, and going onto the next. Racetrack would meet girls, go out with them, but never had anybody serious. Deep inside he still had a thing for Ruby.  
  
Ruby was a whole different story. She was still going out with Spot. Nobody knew why Spot would keep her for that long. He wasn't in love with her or anything. Spot even knew about the times where Ruby cheated on him with Racetrack, but he never broke up with her.  
  
The times were confusing.  
  
Reffy wasn't thought of anymore. Every once in a while, she would cross somebody's mind, but they all accepted the fact that they'd never see her again.  
  
Well, that's what they thought.  
  
-- Boston -  
  
"I'm glad to see you brought the gang with you." Gracie said sarcastically, walking up to Reffy and the other girls.  
  
Reffy turned around quickly and saw Gracie walking towards them.  
  
"Just shut up with the jokes and tell me what the hell happened between you and Jack. That's all I want to know." Reffy said sternly.  
  
"Why's it so important to you anyway?" Gracie asked and raised her eyebrows.  
  
"Because I'm going back to New York in a few weeks to see him and the other boys, and I don't wanna look him in the eye knowing that he's been lying to me since I first met him. So why don't you just tell me if that's his daughter or not, and I'll leave you alone." Reffy replied and crossed her arms.  
  
"We got together. He got me pregnant. We broke up. I came up to Boston and had my baby. And that's it." Gracie said quickly and rolled her eyes.  
  
"Listen," Reffy said, walking closer to her. "I'm not nice, I don't know if you realized that already. So, if you're going to mess around when I ask you stuff then you might as well just give in and tell me what I need to know. I can be your worst nightmare if you want me to be." She threatened.  
  
"Fine, wanna know what happened? I'll tell you. He cheated on me. It figures that he would. He's just a stupid little boy who can't stand having responsibilities. You think that he would have cheated on me if I didn't tell him I was pregnant? Get real! That boy that saved you probably only did it so he could get YOU pregnant too." Gracie said, harshness pouring from her voice.  
  
"That's such a lie." Reffy said through her teeth.  
  
"Call it whatever you want. But he's the asshole who left me when I needed him the most. My family kicked me out when they heard the news. Sent me to live with my aunt up here, but my aunt didn't want me. I had my baby and raised her all by myself." Gracie explained, crossing her arms and leaning against a wall.  
  
"Sorry to break it to ya, dollface... But maybe all this is YOUR fault." Reffy explained, sticking up for Jack. "If you didn't have sex with him so soon in the first place then you wouldn't BE in this situation." Reffy immediately regretted saying that when she saw a group of girls walking towards Gracie. They were other newsies.  
  
"Maybe if you weren't a worthless mill girl then you'd still be in New York right now. With Jack and those other dumbasses. You know, the ones that only care about what girls they get. You know what I'm talking about, don't try to deny it, kid." Gracie said, staring down at Reffy. "Go take your little friends and get off my streets. You're not in New York anymore, you're in MY territory. So get the fuck off of it." She sneered.  
  
That was it. The anger in Reffy's body couldn't take it anymore. It built up so much that she had no control over it anymore. She immediately shoved Gracie to the ground and started punching her.  
  
She heard people scream at her to stop, but she could barely hear them. She felt people trying to stop her, but she pushed them away and let out all of her strength on Gracie.  
  
Gracie immediately started fighting back. She grabbed onto Reffy's neck and threw her on the ground beside her. They fought back and forth, until Reffy felt her lungs tighten up. She felt her face turn red and stopped struggling with Gracie.  
  
"Reffy?!?!" Piper asked, pushing through the crowd and pulling Reffy to her feet.  
  
Reffy started coughing and put both of her hands to her mouth. She could barely breathe.  
  
The rest of the mill girls surrounded Reffy, and caught her fall as her legs collasped from underneath her. The newsgirls tended to Gracie, as the mill girls pulled Reffy to the sidewalk.  
  
Reffy still had both of her hands covering her face. She stopped breathing, and then kept on getting her breath back, coughing uncontrollably.  
  
"Fi!" Diane screamed. "We gotta get her help!" She screamed to the other mill girls.  
  
Reffy got air back in her lungs, but couldn't stop coughing.  
  
"Reffy, come on, we gotta get back to the mill." Polly said and grabbed onto Reffy's hands as she lifted her off the ground.  
  
Piper screamed. "HER HANDS!"  
  
All the girls looked down at Reffy's hands that were covering her face as she coughed. They all felt their stomachs drop when they saw the dark stains of blood in the darkness.  
  
"Shit." Diane said. "She's coughing up blood." She said, her voice barely above a whisper.  
  
"Come on, we gotta get her back!" Polly yelled. Diane and Piper picked up Reffy and they all ran as fast as they could back to the mill.  
  
"Remember Cynthia?" Polly yelled as they ran through the gates of the mill. She was talking about the girl that Reffy told the newsies about in her letter.  
  
"SHUT UP POLLY!" Diane screamed.  
  
"This happened to Cynthia! The one from Ireland!!" Polly explained, a look of fear across her face.  
  
"GO GET HELP!" Piper yelled as they laid Reffy down on the grass as she started coughing again.  
  
"Cynthia's dead." Polly panicked, more tears running down her eyes. "This happened to Cynthia, and she DIED!"  
  
"POLLY!" Diane screamed. She slapped Polly in the face to snap her back into reality. "She's FINE, but you gotta stop scaring her! She's not DEAF, she's just coughing!! You're gonna scare the shit out of her."  
  
Polly nodded her head and stared down at Reffy. Diane ran off to find somebody, but Polly could barely move.  
  
"Go," Piper said. "Find someone, Polly. She's okay." She said. Piper was kneeling down beside Reffy, wiping the blood from her hands with the corner of her dress.  
  
"YOU GIRLS ARE IN SO MUCH TROUBLE WHEN THEY FIND YOU.." Margie screamed, running towards them. She stopped talking when she saw Piper on the ground with Reffy. "Oh god," She said, putting her hand to her mouth. "What happened?"  
  
Piper looked scared. "She's sick." She said.  
  
Margie couldn't say anything. Polly and Diane returned with the woman that got Reffy her job in the first place. Her name was Mrs. Bakeren. "Go back to your beds. All of you." She yelled to the other girls, and knelt down beside Reffy.  
  
She lifted Reffy so that she was in a sitting position, and she immediately started coughing again. Mrs. Bakeren handed her a white piece of cloth to cough into, knowing that it must have been blood that was all over her lips.  
  
Mrs. Bakeren got her to a doctor. Reffy felt like she could barely breathe.  
  
"What's her name?" The doctor asked.  
  
"The girls call her Fi." Mrs. Bakeren replied.  
  
The doctor nodded. "There's nothing I can do for her... She'll either get better, or worse. We'll have to see." He said.  
  
It was a couple nights later when Piper went to visit her. Reffy was happy to see somebody, she was sick of being alone in that room.  
  
"The doctor said you were improving." Piper said.  
  
Reffy slightly smiled, "I know." She replied.  
  
Piper looked down at Reffy and sighed.  
  
"Get the hell out of this bed because we gotta go back to work." Piper said.  
  
"I'll keep a note of that." Reffy said sarcastically.  
  
Piper laughed, although the sound of Reffy's voice scared her. It was raspy, and she didn't like it. "Night." She said, and left the room.  
  
That night, Mrs. Bakeren came to all of the girls before they went to sleep.  
  
"There's something you all should know.." Mrs Bakeren started.  
  
Diane stood up. "Is she dead, Mrs. Bakeren?" She asked. Her voice cracked. "Did she die?"  
  
"Shut up, Diane! I was JUST with her. She's fine, and you know it." She said and started laughing.  
  
"She's fine." Mrs. Bakeren replied, answering Diane's question. "Her fever also has gone down." Mrs. Bakeren said, no expression changed on her face. It was as if she didn't care at all if she was healthy or not.  
  
"See, I told you." Piper said to Diane.  
  
"Thanks Mrs. Bakeren." Polly said.  
  
Mrs. Bakeren nodded and walked out of the room.  
  
- Day After (Noon) -  
  
Reffy sat up in her bed and took a deep breath. Her voice wasn't as strong as it used to be, but she felt so much better. The doctor said that she'd have a raspier voice, but she didn't care. They never knew what it was that she had. They only knew that many girls who lived in the factories would get sick, sometimes even die. She was one of the lucky ones.  
  
She returned to the house, but Reffy felt different. She realized that she needed to get out of there.  
  
"We need to get her home. She can't stay here. It'll get worse." Polly said one night before they all went to sleep. Reffy didn't return to work yet.  
  
All the girls looked over at Reffy. She was sitting by the fire, her eyes bloodshot from crying. All she was doing was staring into the fire and gripping a long blanket that was draped around her shoulders.  
  
Margie walked into the room and went towards Reffy.  
  
"Fi?" She asked. Reffy didn't answer.  
  
"Reffy??" Margie asked again.  
  
Reffy turned around and looked up at her.  
  
"The boss said he wanted to see you." Margie said. "He's in huge office in the main building, you met him when you first came here." She said.  
  
"What? Marg... It's late. It's 10:00." Piper said.  
  
Margie just shrugged her shoulders.  
  
Reffy stood up and threw the blanket on the ground. Without even talking she walked out of the house and down towards the main building.  
  
Once she got there, she wiped a tear from underneath her eye. As she opened up the large, dark wood doors a smell of cigars filled the air. It reminded her of Racetrack, always lending her his cigars.  
  
"Are you...Fi?" He asked, putting his head up once hearing her walk in.  
  
She nodded her head.  
  
"Right, right... You're Reffy. The sick girl." He said, taking the cigar out of his mouth. His office was large and she couldn't believe how many things he had in there. It reminded her of the way Pulitzer's office looked the night she got put in the Refuge.  
  
"You wanted to see me..?" Reffy asked slowly, walking closer to his desk. Her voice sounded the same, but it was weak.  
  
"I just wanted to make you aware of the amount of work you missed while you were sick." He said taking a puff of his cigar and looking at her.  
  
"Well, there really wasn't anything I could do about it, sir..." She said, looking down at the floor. She wanted to slap him for being so stupid.  
  
"Exactly. So we filled your spot." He said simply. Reffy's eyes widened.  
  
"W-what?" She stuttered. "No, I don't think you understand..." She said quickly.  
  
"I understand perfectly." He said, cutting her off. "You aren't healthy enough to work here. You'll be expected to leave by tomorrow morning." He explained.  
  
"What?! I gotta work! I need to get back to New York! God, you don't get it, do you?! Give me another 2 weeks and I'll have enough money." Reffy begged, her voice cracking at the end of her sentence.  
  
"Please leave my office." He said pointing to the door.  
  
"I GOTTA WORK!" She argued with him. He just put the cigar back up to his mouth and faced the window behind him.  
  
Reffy stormed out of the office and slammed the door as hard as she could behind her.  
  
"Friggin big shot, thinking that he can sit on his fat ass and fire ME." She mumbled to herself as she walked down the hallway, her eyes turning watery again.  
  
Reffy got to the house and slammed the door again.  
  
The second she got inside she grabbed a cigarette from the table, her hands were shaking with anger as she tried lighting it.  
  
"What happened?" Piper asked, knowing something terrible must've happened.  
  
"STOP SMOKING." Polly yelled. "You'll be RIGHT back in that hospital."  
  
"I got fired." Reffy said in disbelief, taking a puff and staring at the ground.  
  
Polly grabbed the cigarette from her hand and threw it in the fire.  
  
"Oh, Fi." Diane said, a frown appearing on her face.  
  
"I-I can't believe this." Reffy said, panic running over her body. She let out of a nervous laugh. "I... I just got... Got FIRED." She said.  
  
"Maybe it's just your chance to go back to New York, you know?" Piper said, trying to lighten the situation.  
  
"Dammit, Piper! I'm NOT going back to New York!" A hot tear ran down her cheek. "I want to, but I can't! I don't have enough money!!" She exclaimed.  
  
All the girls looked at eachother.  
  
"I was so friggin close." Reffy said quietly. "That stupid bastard has no idea what's coming to him, I'm gonna kill em." She said.  
  
"I can give you some money." Diane said.  
  
"Yea, me too. You need it more than I do." Polly said.  
  
"It's ok." Reffy said, cracking a thanks-but-no-thanks smile. "I'll find out how to get it."  
  
"No, Fi. I'm giving you some money." Polly said and ran upstairs.  
  
"Me too." Diane said, and followed her.  
  
"You guys!" Reffy complained.  
  
"Me too!" Piper said and started laughing as she followed them upstairs.  
  
Reffy couldn't help but smile. Moments later they came running down the stairs.  
  
They threw some of their extra money on the table and started counting it.  
  
"That's GOTTA be enough." Piper said, looking up at Reffy.  
  
"I can't take your money." Reffy replied.  
  
"Please?" Diane asked.  
  
"Just take it, Reffy. Go to the train station, it's right down the street." Piper said.  
  
Reffy looked at the girls and smiled. "Thank you so much." She said and hugged each of them.  
  
"Go get those ugly clothes you came here with, and get out of here." Diane joked.  
  
Reffy went upstairs and threw some of her belongings into a bag.  
  
"I'll never forget you guys." Reffy said after they said their good-byes. She took a deep breath and walked out of the house.  
  
Thoughts of being sick left her mind as she walked towards the gate. She was completely healed. Thoughts of Gracie still went through her head, but she tried forgetting it.  
  
It didn't hit her until the train station came in view. She was going back to New York. She was going back to her old life, the one she missed so much working in that factory as a mill girl.  
- FINALLY out of Boston. Next chapter - back with the newsies. Review!!! 


	19. Hiya Racetrack

Back in New York! Go to Chapter 15 for SHOUT OUTS.  
  
I was reading my old reviews.... Man, I've lost a lot of my old reviewers. That really sucks, so the people who still review, and to all the NEW reviewers, you have no idea how much I love you for it... lol, especially since I feel like this fan fic is dying right infront of my eyes. Ok well, here ya go.  
  
*****  
Reffy had to spend the night sleeping at the train station. The train left the next day in the afternoon, so she had a lot of waiting to do.  
  
All she could think about was Racetrack. She was scared to see Jack, and scared to see Ruby, and so scared to see Spot, but she was more nervous to see Racetrack. She knew that everything would be terrible if she didn't have her best friend by her side through everything she had to do.  
  
She thought to herself about what she'd do about Ruby, and kept wondering if she still had those same feelings for Spot. She wondered about Jack, and what she'd say when she brings up Gracie, and she even thought that maybe they wouldn't even recognize her.  
  
Reffy went on the train late afternoon the next day. She slept the whole way, but woke up 20 minutes before they arrived to New York. Reffy took a deep breath once she saw her destination... Home.  
  
---  
  
Reffy looked around when she came off the train. Everything seemed the same. She felt happier being there, but felt stressed when she realized what she had to do. She needed to find Racetrack.  
  
'Okay. So it's late afternoon... Where would he be' She thought to herself. Ofcourse, she only thought of one place. The races.  
  
Reffy kept her head down as she walked down the streets. Luckily, she didn't see any of the newsies on her way. Once she got there, she looked around for Racetrack. Butterflies were in her stomach, but she tried as hard as she could to ignore them.  
  
"Where are ya, Race." She said to herself nervously as she looked around. "Racetrack... I know you're here" She whispered.  
  
She walked around a little bit more until she heard a voice. She knew that voice.  
  
That's when she saw him. The only thing different about him was his height, he just seemed a little taller. Nothing else changed about him. Atleast, that's what she thought.  
  
He held onto a few papers in his left hand, and held a cigar in his right.  
  
"Racetrack." Reffy said to herself quietly.  
  
All of the sudden, Reffy started feeling unsure of herself. She kept asking herself why she was there. When she finally got the strength to walk over to him, she saw a girl about his height approach him.  
  
Reffy raised her eyebrows at the sight. The girl was a little shorter than Racetrack, and had straight red/brown hair. Her and Racetrack exchanged a few words, Race's face beaming the whole time.  
  
Once they finished talking, Racetrack gave her a quick kiss and went back to selling his papers. Reffy started bursting out laughing.  
  
Racetrack heard a familiar laugh and turned around, but didn't see anybody there. Reffy dodged behind a group of people and held her hand to her mouth, trying to control her laughter.  
  
'Yeah, great way to get him not to notice you' she thought to herself. It was odd for her to see Racetrack kiss somebody.  
  
Wait a minute... Racetrack? Kissing a girl other than Ruby? "What the hell!" Reffy yelled, and looked over to where Racetrack was before.  
  
She watched as he sold his last paper, and knew that she had to go over there.  
  
Taking a deep breath, Reffy walked over with her hands clasped behind her back. After looking around a couple of times, she crept behind Racetrack and bit her lip.  
  
Without even thinking, she tapped him on the shoulder. Butterflies were in her stomach, and she felt as if she was going crazy. She was scared.  
  
Racetrack felt somebody tap his shoulder, and turned around to face who ever it was. The second he saw her, the cigar he was holding in his hand fell down towards his feet.  
  
Reffy didn't know what to say. "Hiya Race."  
  
"Reffy?" Racetrack asked. His heart felt like it stopped.  
  
She paused for a second and stared at him. The look on his face made her think of how much she missed him. "God, Race. I'm so sorry." She said and embraced him in a hug.  
  
Racetrack pulled away. "What are you doing here?" He asked.  
  
"What do you mean 'what am I doing here'? What do you THINK I'm doing here?" Reffy asked.  
  
"You're suppose to be in Boston!" He yelled.  
  
"Racetrack." Reffy said quietly, trying to get him to not yell. "I know, but I came back."  
  
Racetrack stared at her for what seemed like forever, completely shocked that she was infront of him. Truthfully, he didn't think about her as much as he did when she first left, and would have never expected to see her.  
  
"I wanted to come back but I needed to make the money first." Reffy explained, hoping that he'd snap into reality and talk to her. "It just took me a while, but I'm back now. " She explained. "Do you want me to be back in Boston or something?"  
  
"Sorry, but what do you want me to do?! Hug you and pretend like everything is okay?! Cuz everything is NOT okay! You're suppose to be in BOSTON!!" He yelled.  
  
"I'M SORRY!" She yelled back. "That's all I can say! I can't do anything to change what I did, and I'm sorry about that!! You're all I thought about in Boston, and I came back because I wanted to see my best friend again. Because I was stupid when I left, and I regret it more than anything in the whole entire world." She explained.  
  
Racetrack took off his hat and wiped his forehead with his arm in frustration. Putting the hat back on his head, he let out a long sigh and looked around.  
  
There was an awkward silence between the two of them as Racetrack thought about everything. Reffy didn't expect him to forgive her, but she wanted to atleast try and see if he would.  
  
Racetrack looked her in the eyes and raised his eyebrows. He glanced down to the ground and let out a long sigh.  
  
"Well, you just made me ruin a perfectly good cigar." He said and looked back up to her.  
  
Reffy looked down at the cigar he dropped and smiled. "I'll get you a new one." She replied, and looked back up into his eyes.  
  
Racetrack couldn't stand being mad at her. "C'mere kid." He said and wrapped his arms around her.  
  
Reffy held onto him tightly with a smile across her face. She felt a huge feeling of relief go through her body.  
  
"You're back for good?" Racetrack asked, once he let go of her.  
  
"Yea." She said and nodded her head. "I hated being stuck in that mill all day."  
  
Racetrack rolled his eyes. "What were you thinkin, huh?" He asked.  
  
Reffy laughed. "I wasn't thinkin, you know." She replied as they walked down the street together.  
  
"So is Jack mad at ya, or what?" He asked.  
  
Reffy stopped walking and shot a nervous glance at Racetrack.  
  
Racetrack's face dropped. "No." He said and his jaw almost fell open.  
  
"Yea." Reffy said to him and bit her lip.  
  
"You haven't seen him yet?!" Race asked, hoping it wasn't true.  
  
"No... I came to see you first." She whined and looked up to the sky.  
  
"Reffy! What, are you outta your mind?!" He yelled.  
  
"I AM outta my mind." She said and looked at him. "I really am. I have no idea what I'm going to say to him. He hates me, doesn't he?" Reffy said, looking at Racetrack's face for answers.  
  
"Want the truth?"  
  
"A'course I want the truth."  
  
"I think he does."  
  
"A'course he does." Reffy said and bit her lip.  
  
Racetrack smirked. "You always bite your bottom lip when you're scared."  
  
"I'm not scared." Reffy replied and looked straight out infront of her.  
  
Racetrack studied her face and couldn't help but turn his smirk into a smile. "You're scared."  
  
"What should I do?" She asked, trying to ignore his teasing.  
  
"Go and see him." Racetrack said simply.  
  
"You make it sound so damn easy." Reffy said.  
  
"C'mon." He said and grabbed her arm, walking down the street in a quick pace.  
  
"Where are we going?" Reffy asked.  
  
"It's getting dark, and we need to talk to Jack." Racetrack said.  
  
"No!" She yelled and tried to yank her arm away, but Racetrack was way too strong for her.  
  
----  
  
Racetrack and Reffy were standing infront of the Lodging House. It was dark, and the streets were quiet, but you could hear the boys voices coming from inside. Racetrack slid a match across the wall and lit a cigarette.  
  
Race looked at Reffy and smiled. "You scared again?" He teased.  
  
"I'm not scared." She replied confidently, looking at the doorway.  
  
"I'd be scared if I were you." Racetrack said, handing Reffy his cigarette. "Especially if I had to face Jack."  
  
Reffy put the cigarette to her lips, her eyes still on the doorway. "Don't get me started about Jack." She said and shook her head.  
  
"He ain't gonna be happy." He warned.  
  
Reffy laughed. "He'll probably throw me out the window or somethin." She said, pulling the cigarette down from her mouth and blowing the smoke out in the air.  
  
Racetrack laughed with her. "I'll make sure he don't do that... But I'm not making any guarantees that he won't."  
  
"I could soak him. He doesn't look that tough, I could do it." She said and looked at Racetrack. It was her first time looking somewhere other than the doorway.  
  
"Yeah, I know you could." He replied, even though he knew that she was fooling herself.  
  
"Yeah." She agreed and looked into his eyes. She took a long drag from the cigarette and threw it towards the ground.  
  
Racetrack grabbed onto Reffy's hand and pulled her towards the door.  
  
"C'mon." He said quietly as they walked up the stairs. She blew out the smoke and her eyes got wide with panic as they climbed the steps.  
  
Halfway up, Reffy stopped walking and pulled Race's hand down the steps.  
  
"What are you doing?" He whispered. She was 2 steps down from him, but still gripped onto his hand.  
  
"I'm scared, and I can't take Jack, and I don't want him to throw me out the window." She said quickly, looking up at him with pleading eyes.  
  
Racetrack laughed and squeezed her hand. "Maybe he'll be happy." He said.  
  
"And maybe when he throws me out of the window I'll fly." She said sarcastically, and Racetrack laughed.  
  
"Yea, guess you're right. But we can't stand on the stairs all night." He said.  
  
Reffy walked up the 2 steps so that she was next to Racetrack.  
  
"You got tall." She said, and looked away from him and up the stairs. He was only about an inch taller, but she noticed it.  
  
"Why are you bringing this up now?" He said quietly.  
  
"Trying to lighten the moment." She said to him.  
  
"Did it work?" He asked.  
  
"Not really." She said quietly so the newsies upstairs couldn't hear them.  
  
Racetrack walked up the remaining stairs, dragging Reffy along behind him. 


	20. Jack

Check out Chap 15 for my shout-outs.  
  
-=-  
"RACE! Where the hell have you been? You never missed a game before." Blink said, seeing Racetrack emerge from the steps.  
  
"You busy with that girl you met at the races?" Jack asked and smiled. "She was definitely a lookah, I think that you.." But Jack stopped talking suddenly. The smile slowly disappeared from his face when he saw her.  
  
Racetrack pulled Reffy up next to him, and everything got silent. Reffy felt her head get heavy, and her stomach was twisting inside of her. All she heard was the sound of the deck of cards dropping to the floor. She opened her mouth to say something but nothing came out.  
  
"Bad idea, Race." Reffy said once she got her voice back, and walked down the stairs.  
  
"Wait a minute, where do ya think you're goin." Racetrack yelled. Reffy stopped on the 3rd step down, and looked back at him.  
  
"Racetrack." She said through her teeth. "I can't do this." She said quietly so the other newsies wouldn't hear her. None of them said a word.  
  
"Get the hell up here, or I'll be the one soakin you." Racetrack said and stared down at her.  
  
Reffy bit her bottom lip. She slowly walked back up the remaining steps and faced the boys. Her eyes were wondering the room of familiar faces, and then she saw Jack.  
  
Jack stood up from his chair and walked over to her.  
  
Reffy looked up at him and she couldn't believe her eyes. It was Jack, but she was scared of him. She backed up a little bit and made sure that she was close to Racetrack, just to feel a sense of safety near her.  
  
"She's got a story, Jack." Racetrack spoke up. "Don't be mad at her."  
  
"I ain't mad at her." He said and shrugged his shoulders. He looked around at the other newsboys. "I just don't know what she's doing here."  
  
"What do you mean?" She asked and raised one eyebrow.  
  
"What makes you think you can stay here?" Jack asked. Jack looked at her as if he didn't care that she was back.  
  
"Same reason why YOU can stay here." Reffy replied with a slight attitude in her voice, she soon regretted it. She felt everybody stare at her and Jack.  
  
"Hate to break it to ya, Kid. There's no room." Jack said. No emotion in his voice.  
  
"There's an empty bed right there, Cowboy." Skittery said, pointing to a spare bed in the corner.  
  
"No, she can't sleep there." Jack replied, his eyes still on Reffy's face.  
  
Reffy looked around the room at everybody staring at her. She quickly nodded over towards the spare bed.  
  
"Why can't I sleep there?" She asked.  
  
"It's taken." Jack replied.  
  
"But, Jack, It's not," Crutchy started, but Jack interrupted him.  
  
"You can't stay here. Besides, haven't I done enough for you already?" Jack said and walked over to the table and sat back down again.  
  
Reffy looked behind her to Racetrack, then looked at Jack again. Why would be bring up the Refuge at a time like this?  
  
"Jack." She said hopefully, but he looked away.  
  
She looked around at the other newsboys in disbelief. They all looked down towards the floor.  
  
"Jack!" She yelled, but he still acted as if he made up his final decision.  
  
She looked around again at the newsies, and turned around to face Racetrack.  
  
"Home sweet friggin home, right Race? Why did I miss it here so much?" She said quietly to him, and walked down the stairs.  
  
Racetrack followed her outside.  
  
"Reffy!" He yelled. "Slow down!!" He ran after her.  
  
"He hates me." She said. "Jack hates me. He HATES me."  
  
"He don't hate you." He replied, but Reffy ran her fingers through her hair and shook her head.  
  
"He does." Reffy replied. Everything seemed like a nightmare. "I don't know what to do. It's so cold out tonight, and I'm gonna have to freeze to death all because Jack's an asshole."  
  
"Ref, you can't stay out here all night." Racetrack looking around the cold and empty street.  
  
"I did it when I was little, I could do it again until I find a place to stay." She said.  
  
Racetrack looked at the street one more time and shook his head. "I don't want you out here." He said.  
  
"I'll be fine." She said confidently. "I promise. Go back upstairs."  
  
"I'm not leaving you out here alone." Racetrack replied.  
  
"Race." She said and looked into his eyes. She couldn't help but smirk a little bit. "I'll be okay."  
  
Racetrack rolled his eyes. "C'mon." He said and pulled her over to where the ramps were to buy their papers.  
  
"What are we doing?" She asked.  
  
"Sleeping." Racetrack replied and pulled her into a corner.  
  
They sat down on the cold ground.  
  
"You're so stupid." Reffy said, looking at him and shaking her head.  
  
"I'm stupid? Me?! I'm the stupid one?" Rcetrack asked.  
  
"You have somewhere warm to be right now." Reffy explained. "Go to it."  
  
"You do too, you're just to scared to talk to Jack." He said. Reffy gasped, she was mad now.  
  
"Racetrack, how many times do I have to tell you." She said and put her hands out infront of her. "I'M...NOT...SCARED." She said, emphasizing her words with her hands.  
  
"You are." Racetrack said and laughed quietly.  
  
"It's not good to piss me off, Race. I'll get you back for saying stuff like that." She warned. Racetrack's smile stayed on his face.  
  
"C'mere kid." He said and slung his arm around her shoulder. She felt chills go down her spine from the cold weather, but felt Racetrack's body and ignored the temperature.  
  
They fell asleep on the ground that night. Reffy was too weak and too tired to realize how uncomfortable it was. All she knew was that as long as she had Race with her, she'd be fine.  
  
The only thing Reffy had to worry about now was Jack. She was so busy thinking about Jack, that her mind didn't even realize that tomorrow was a new day... A new day with Ruby. A new day realizing that things changed while she was gone. 


	21. I'm Not Scared

Check out Chap 15 for my shout-outs.  
  
YOU'RE ALL GOING TO HATE ME FOR THIS CHAPTER!  
  
-=-  
  
Reffy woke up when it was still dark out. She took Racetrack's arm off of her shoulder and leaned her head back against the wall. Taking a few deep breaths, she got up and walked out towards the street. There were people outside already, and she knew that the sun would be up soon. The newsies would be up soon.  
  
She felt her stomach growl, and knew she had to go eat something. Reaching into her pocket, Reffy pulled out some money and walked quickly to a bakery down the street she use to steal from, hoping that they were open  
  
-  
  
Racetrack woke up suddenly by the sound of a carriage out on the street. He looked around and didn't see Reffy anywhere.  
  
Racetrack stood up as fast as he could and looked around more, not knowing where she could have went.  
  
Racetrack ran out onto the street and let out a sigh of relief as he saw her walking towards him.  
  
"Here." She said, handing him a small roll of bread. She was just about to finish hers.  
  
Race smiled, but was still sleepy. "Did ya steal this?" He asked, accepting the roll.  
  
Reffy smirked. "No, actually I didn't. I bought it." She said, and smiled proudly at him.  
  
"That's a first." He joked and started eating his breakfast.  
  
"I'm not going to sell today." Reffy said, glancing at the rising sun and looking at the Lodging House, waiting for somebody to walk out of it.  
  
"Why not? It's your first day back, you gotta." Race replied, finishing his food.  
  
"I'm gonna talk to Jack." Reffy said, nodding her head.  
  
Racetrack put his hand up to his hat and rubbed the corner softly, as if he was thinking about something.  
  
"What?" Reffy asked.  
  
"Think that's a good idea?" He asked.  
  
"Yea, I'm not scared or anything." Reffy replied. Racetrack just smiled and shook his head.  
  
"You're scared." He commented, and looked over at the Lodging House. Some of the boys were up and walking over to buy their newspapers.  
  
Reffy avoided talking to any of them, her main focus was finding Jack. Racetrack already bought his papers and went selling, but wishing Reffy good luck on his way to the races.  
  
She was standing at the corner of the street, waiting for Jack to come out with his papers when she saw him walking out onto the street.  
  
Reffy bit her bottom lip and walked up behind him.  
  
"Heya Jack." She said, running his fingers through her long hair and looking up at him.  
  
Jack glanced down at her, and rolled his eyes. "What is it?" He asked.  
  
Reffy shrugged her shoulders. "Eh, it's nothing. Nevermind." She replied.  
  
"A'right." He said and walked away, shouting the headline.  
  
"ACTUALLY..." Reffy yelled, following his quick pace. "I need to talk to you."  
  
Jack held his papers with his right arm and finally looked her in the eye.  
  
"Well, I don't need to talk to you. So, you can stop following me around, kid." He replied.  
  
"You have no idea, huh." Reffy said, putting her hands on her hips and staring up at him. "You have absolutely no idea."  
  
"No idea about what?" He asked, raising his eyebrows.  
  
"You have no idea about how hard I had to work to get back here. What I went through just to get back here to New York." Reffy explained.  
  
"Well, if you didn't leave in the first place then you'd be better off now, wouldn't ya?" Jack replied and walked away again.  
  
Reffy kept following him.  
  
"I needed to see other things, Jack." Reffy said, practically running to keep up with his pace.  
  
"Like what? Boston? What's the difference?!" He asked, trying to get away from her.  
  
"I needed to see life outside of New York. Away from the headlines, and people like Ruby." Reffy explained. She hated saying that name.  
  
"Go away, Ref." Jack warned, looking out infront of him as he walked.  
  
Reffy grabbed onto his arm to make him stop. "Will you just listen to me?!" She asked frantically.  
  
"What's wrong? You mad that I'm leaving? Maybe you should think about that, because I have every right to hate you right now." Jack said.  
  
Reffy sighed. "I was right, I knew you hated me." Reffy said, mostly to herself. "Racetrack's so stupid." She said.  
  
Jack ignored her and continued walking.  
  
"Jack!" Reffy yelled from where she was standing, but he wouldn't listen to her.  
  
"God, it's so hard to get that guys attention." Reffy said to herself. Then, she got an idea.  
  
Running to catch up with him, Reffy walked beside him. After a few seconds of Jack trying to get away from her, she started talking.  
  
"I met some newsies up in New York," She explained. "All girls."  
  
Jack let out a frustrated sigh. "You don't give up, do ya?" Jack said. He stopped walking and looked at her.  
  
"I met this one girl, she was about your age, Jack." Reffy looked up at him. "Had a kid. Hadda raise the kid by herself, her only money was the profit she got from selling papes. Just like us."  
  
"What's your point, Reffy." Jack said, obviously getting annoyed by her. He had papers to sell.  
  
"No point." She said simply. "I just feel bad for her, that's all." Reffy said and crossed her arms. She let out a sigh and stared down at the ground.  
  
Jack looked at her and turned to walk away. "Poor thing." He said with much sarcasm in his voice and rolled his eyes.  
  
"Yea." Reffy said, still looking at the ground. Jack started walking away. "Poor, Poor Gracie." Reffy said loud enough for Jack to hear.  
  
Reffy faced down towards the ground, but glanced quickly over to Jack to see if he heard her. Jack stopped walking, and Reffy knew she had him.  
  
Out of the corner of her eyes she saw him turn around slowly and walk towards her.  
  
"What did you say?" He asked.  
  
"I said 'yea'" She said and looked at him weird.  
  
"No... After that." He replied.  
  
"Poor Gracie." She repeated and searched his face for a reaction to her name.  
  
Jack swallowed hard and ran his fingers through his hair.  
  
"Go to the Lodging House tonight... During Medda's show." Jack replied. Reffy glanced back down to the ground and nodded her head.  
  
Jack silently turned around and walked away. Meanwhile, a smirk appeared on Reffy's face. She had him wrapped around her finger.  
  
-  
  
Reffy spent the day up at the Lodging House. Nobody was up there, everybody was selling. She caught up on some sleep, and waited for night to come. She knew that whenever there was a show, the boys would go straight from work to see it. All she had to do was wait for Jack to show up.  
  
Reffy found a cigarette by Racetrack's bed and lit it with a match. She was sick of waiting. She was getting nervous every time she looked out the window, seeing the sun falling slowly in the sky.  
  
"Where are you." Reffy whispered, she was getting annoyed with waiting.  
  
A few minutes later, Ruby walked into the Lodging House, looking around to see if anybody was there. She spent the whole day in Brooklyn with Spot, and slept there the night before. She stopped abruptly when she saw Reffy.  
  
Reffy turned around hoping it would be one of the guys, but felt sick to her stomach when she saw Ruby standing there. Hatred was in Reffy's eyes. It was the girl who caused everything bad to happen, the girl that Reffy wanted to get revenge on more than anything in the world.  
  
A smile went on Ruby's face. "Thought you died or something." Ruby commented, walking over to the mirror.  
  
Reffy decided not to answer her and walked towards the stairs. Forget Jack, she couldn't be near Ruby.  
  
"You know," Ruby started. "Race had a little bet going on that you'd be back."  
  
Reffy stopped walking, turned around, and looked at her.  
  
"It's true." Ruby said and smiled. "Said that you'd be back because you'd get in trouble in Boston or something. Some people said you were never coming back. So I guess Racetrack just won a lot of money." You could tell Ruby loved telling Reffy this.  
  
Reffy rolled her eyes. "Please, Ruby. It's obvious that you loved me not being here, that way you could get all of the attention. Guess what? That's all over now." Reffy said and raised her eyebrows at Ruby.  
  
"I don't think so, Ref." Ruby said. "A lot has changed since you were gone."  
  
"Like what." Reffy said and sat down on her old bed.  
  
"Like how that's not your bed anymore." She said pointing to what Reffy was sitting on. "It's mine."  
  
"Who said you could sleep here?!" Reffy asked, standing up and looking up at her. Ruby was still taller than her.  
  
"Jack." She said and smiled.  
  
"Yea, well Jack's just a dumbass." Reffy mumbled.  
  
"Are you leaving anytime soon?" Ruby asked, walking into the sink area and checking herself in the mirror.  
  
"No." Reffy said, mostly to herself.  
  
"Spot's waiting for me." Ruby said and walked towards the stairs. "I don't know why you came back. Things were going great without you." She said. Reffy heard her exit the Lodging House, trying her hardest not to go out there and hurt her.  
  
"Things were going great without you showing up in the first place." Reffy said to herself and sat on her old bed, which was now Ruby's.  
  
A few minutes later she heard Jack walking up the stairs. Reffy looked up and saw him slowly walking towards her.  
  
"Get it over with, Ref. What do you know." He cut right to the chase.  
  
Reffy stood up and clasped her hands behind her back, pacing slowly around the room.  
  
"I just know something." She said, shrugging her shoulders.  
  
"You know about me and Gracie?" Jack asked, obviously wanting to get the conversation over with as soon as possible.  
  
"I know that Gracie has a kid. A little girl, actually. Your little girl." Reffy explained. She crossed her arms loosely and waited for his reaction.  
  
"What are you talkin about?" Jack asked, looking into her eyes and feeling nothing but anger in his body.  
  
"She told me, Jack. Don't play stupid with me. You're a father and you never told anybody about it." Reffy said, but she couldn't hold in her anger anymore. "Hell, you haven't even seen your daughter yet!" She yelled.  
  
Jack walked over to Reffy with his fists clenched.  
  
"That's not my kid." He replied.  
  
Reffy laughed. "Yea, and I'm Pulitzer's long lost daughter. Please, Jack. I'm not an idiot." She said, shaking her head at his remark.  
  
Jack walked closer to her, causing Reffy to back up against a wall.  
  
"It's not funny, that's NOT my kid." He said, a little louder this time.  
  
The smile lingered on Reffy's face. "What's the matter, Cowboy?" She asked.  
  
Jack grabbed her arms and pushed her up against the wall. "You keep your mouth shut, understand? That's none of your business."  
  
Reffy continued laughing. "Don't get mad because I know something about ya." She replied, looking into his furious eyes, knowing that she had the upper hand.  
  
Jack pushed her harder against the wall, causing Reffy to gasp in pain. The smile quickly faded off of her lips.  
  
"Shut your mouth, ya hear? Just SHUT UP! That was a long time ago and I don't need you getting into it!" Jack yelled in her face. Reffy winced at the harshness of his voice.  
  
"Stop it, Jack!" She screeched at his strength.. Her eyes were closed and her voice cracked slightly. "What are you doing, huh? You gonna hit me?" She asked quietly.  
  
"I dunno, should I? Do I have to, Reffy? You tell ME." Jack said. Reffy slowly opened her eyes and saw how close his face was to hers. His grip never loosened on her shoulders.  
  
"You LIED to me about what happened when I was still in the Refuge! I've been out of that place for years now and all this time you lied to me!!" Reffy yelled.  
  
Jack tightened his grip on her shoulders.  
  
Reffy whimpered quietly, not able to look him in the eye. Jack realized what he was doing and let her go, running his fingers roughly through his hair.  
  
Reffy let out a shaky breath and slid down the wall, sitting down on the floor.  
  
"This is none of your business, Reffy!" He yelled, pointing a finger down at her frightened body. She looked up at Jack with fear in her eyes. She covered her head in her arms when she saw him throw his hand in the air.  
  
Jack turned around and put both of his arms up on one of the bunks. He held his head in his hands and took a couple of deep breaths.  
  
Reffy was too scared to move. She didn't want to get up in fear that Jack would do something.  
  
Before anything else could happen, they heard somebody enter the Lodging House and walk up the creaky stairs.  
  
"Jack?" The voice asked halfway up. Jack pulled his head up and looked at the stairway.  
  
Reffy, still on the ground, looked also.  
  
Standing there was a beautiful girl with long, curly brown hair and blue eyes. She was tall, and wore a dress that matched the color of her eyes.  
  
"Chelsea, what are you doing here?" Jack asked, quickly walking over to her.  
  
"I couldn't find you at Medda's. Mush told me that you had to stop by and get something here, what's going on?" Chelsea asked, looking over and seeing a girl on the ground.  
  
Reffy was sitting on the floor and her back was leaning up against the wall. She was holding her knees to her chest and pieces of her brown wavy hair hung slightly over her face and shoulders.  
  
"Who is this, Jack?" Chelsea asked, taking a step closer to Reffy.  
  
"It's nobody. C'mon, let's go." Jack said grabbing onto Chelsea's hand and trying to walk down the steps.  
  
Chelsea pulled away from Jack and knelt down beside Reffy.  
  
"Who are you?" Chelsea asked quietly, but sweetly. Reffy's eyes looked scared, and she feared that she would break out crying at any second.  
  
"Reffy." She replied weakly, staring at the ground infront of her, hugging her knees as tight as possibly.  
  
"What's wrong?" Chelsea asked.  
  
Reffy tucked some stray pieces of her long hair behind her ear and looked up at Jack, who was standing by the steps.  
  
Reffy once again opened her mouth to say something, but decided not to. She knew that it was probably one of Jack's girlfriends.  
  
"Chelsea." Jack said. Chelsea turned her head slightly to look at him. "Let's go." He said, nodding down the stairs.  
  
"Are you okay?" Chelsea asked, her attention turning once again to Reffy. Confusion was written all over Chelsea's face.  
  
Reffy stayed silent. So many thoughts were running through her head. She was scared of everything. She felt like nobody, she felt weak.  
  
"Chelsea." Jack said louder, getting impatient.  
  
"Jack, what's going on? Who is this?" Chelsea said, standing up and facing him.  
  
"It doesn't matter who she is." Jack replied.  
  
"Is she going to be okay?" Chelsea asked him quietly.  
  
"I'm fine." Reffy said, her voice shaking. She kept staring at the ground infront of her, her chin resting on her knees that she kept hugging.  
  
"She's fine." Jack repeated slowly, staring at Reffy with regret in his heart.  
  
Jack motioned for Chelsea to walk down the stairs. Chelsea looked over at Reffy and sighed, walking down the steps slowly.  
  
Jack looked at Reffy out of the corner of his eye as he went to follow Chelsea down the stairs. She was in her same position, but the hair that she tucked behind her ear fell infront of her face again. She was shaking, but never stopped hugging her knees to her chest.  
  
Jack and Chelsea left the Lodging House and headed for Medda's, but Reffy never moved.  
  
********* I need opinions. E-mail me at racehiggins@yahoo.com and tell me who YOU want to see Reffy with. I'm torn between characters, and I would like to see who you all want to see her with. Don't be shy about it, talk to me! I'd love to hear people's opinions. Even if you're not a reviewer. If you have an e-mail and would like to give your opinion, then let me know! 


	22. The Show

Check out Chap 15 for my shout-outs.  
  
-=-  
  
Reffy just sat there. She had no idea what she was doing, but she had no where to go.  
  
"I hate him." She said to herself as a single tear rolled down her flushed cheek. "I hate Jack, I hate him." She whispered, wiping her cheek off with the back of her hand.  
  
Reffy looked at the wet tear on the back of her hand and she straightened out her legs infront of her. She felt her body fill with anger as she thought about what Jack just did.  
  
She had to get out of there.  
  
Reffy stood up and wiped her long hair out of her face. She decided to go after the one person that made all of this happen.  
  
Ruby.  
  
-  
  
Reffy broke into a run as she went down the dark streets to Irving Hall. She knew Ruby was there.  
  
Finally approaching the place, Reffy saw groups of people standing outside, the show didn't even start yet.  
  
Scanning the scene, Reffy caught sight of Racetrack. She was about to run over to him, but she saw somebody holding Race's hand.  
  
Reffy raised her eyebrows slightly and walked to the side of the street, brushing against the wall and getting a closer look.  
  
She heard Racetrack say something, and the girl laughed at him.  
  
Reffy's jaw dropped. It was Ruby.  
  
She stood there watching the two, knowing that Racetrack still had a crush on her. You could tell, Race was all over her.  
  
The anger in Reffy got stronger. Not only did Ruby have Spot, but she also had the other newsies when Spot wasn't around.  
  
"REFFY?" Somebody said from behind her. Reffy turned around and saw Mush.  
  
"Shhh!!" She hushed, putting her hand on Mush's mouth and pulling him towards the side of the wall with her. "Keep quiet." She said. Reffy removed her hand and saw Mush smile.  
  
"I saw you last night when you came into the Lodging House. I wanted to say something to you, but Jack would have killed me!" Mush exclaimed, happy to see her again.  
  
Reffy smiled. "Glad to see somebody missed me." She replied happily.  
  
"We all did." He replied and put out his arms for a hug.  
  
Reffy smirked and hugged Mush, but then quickly realized why she was there in the first place.  
  
Pulling away from Mush, Reffy looked him in the eye and took a deep breath.  
  
"Mush." She said, biting her bottom lip, hoping he knew answers to all of the questions inside of her.  
  
"Reffy." Mush replied, totally confused as to what she was trying to pull.  
  
"Tell me, Mush..." She said casually, glancing behind her and seeing Race and Ruby again. "What's Racetrack doing?" She asked.  
  
Mush looked over Reffy's shoulder. "Talking to Ruby." He replied.  
  
"He's holding her hand and making her laugh. That's what he does when he likes a girl. Why's he doin it to her?" Reffy asked.  
  
Mush raised his eyebrows. "Because he likes her." He said in an obvious tone.  
  
"How do you know? Did he tell you that?"  
  
"Everybody knows. They're with each other all the time when Spot's not around." Mush replied.  
  
"You mean like... Just, talk to eachother? Or...?" Reffy asked, hoping he'd get the point.  
  
"Or what?"  
  
"You know." Reffy said, nodding her head and biting her bottom lip.  
  
"Oh." Mush replied quickly. "If you mean what I think you mean, then I think what you mean is right, you know?" He said quickly.  
  
Reffy looked at him with a blank stare. "Mush, do they... Do stuff. That's all I want to know."  
  
Mush nodded his head again. "I just said that they did." He said and rolled his eyes at her.  
  
Reffy rolled her eyes also, but couldn't help but smirk at his childish attitude.  
  
"C'mon Mush, how does Spot not know that?" Reffy asked.  
  
Mush shrugged his shoulders. "He knows. He just doesn't do anything about it... Probably because he cheats on her all the time too."  
  
"...Well, that's a healthy relationship." She said sarcastically and looked behind her at Racetrack again.  
  
"I think Race likes Ruby because he missed you." Mush said, glancing at Racetrack quickly.  
  
Reffy faced him and raised her eyebrows. "You think that he has sex with her because he missed me... Okay, Mush." She said, not understanding what he was saying.  
  
Mush rolled his eyes again. "Reffy! Did you get stupid in Boston?"  
  
Reffy smiled, but let him continue.  
  
"I meant that I think he spends all his time with Ruby because you weren't here for him to hang around with."  
  
Reffy understood what he was saying. "Oh." She replied, looking down at the ground, suddenly feeling guilty for leaving.  
  
"Why'd ya leave, Ref?" Mush asked.  
  
Reffy sighed. "Don't make me get into that.." She said quietly.  
  
"Alls I know is that Jack's really mad at you, and all the other guys feel like you hate us or somethin." Mush said.  
  
"I don't hate any of you." Reffy said sympathetically. "I just hate Ruby."  
  
Mush looked over Reffy's shoulder and his eyes got wide. "They're coming over here." He said quietly.  
  
Reffy looked at his face and felt her stomach tense up.  
  
"Ref?" Racetrack asked, grabbing her shoulder and turning her around to face him.  
  
"Eh... Heya Race." She replied, looking up at him slightly and putting her hands in her pockets.  
  
"When'd you get here?" He asked.  
  
"Just now." She replied. Reffy felt Ruby staring at her.  
  
"Reffy was up at the Lodging House all day." Ruby spoke up, looking at Racetrack. "I don't know why, I thought she wasn't allowed to be there."  
  
"Ruby." Racetrack warned and looked her in the eye. He shook his head as if telling her to stop.  
  
"How is that ANY of your business?" Reffy asked, getting her attitude back in her voice.  
  
"I live there, so I think it's my business." Ruby replied. Her hand was clasped onto Racetracks.  
  
"I live there too, and I lived there LONG before you ever showed up to sell papes." Reffy said, narrowing her eyes at the taller girl.  
  
"Jack kicked you out, sweetie." Ruby said sweetly. "That means you don't live there."  
  
Reffy felt Mush hold onto her shoulder, knowing that she was about to lunge at Ruby.  
  
"You're SO lucky that I can control myself, because I could punch that little smile off your face in a second." Reffy threatened.  
  
"Oh, I'm sure." Ruby said and rolled her eyes. "I'm going to see the show, but I suppose you can't because you probably have to go find a street corner to sleep on tonight or something."  
  
Ruby turned around and pulled a stunned Racetrack with her.  
  
They were headed towards the entrance, but Reffy couldn't control herself anymore.  
  
Without even thinking, Reffy ran up behind Ruby and pushed her face down to the ground.  
  
Ruby screamed as she landed with her hands supporting her body. Reffy knelt down on the ground and rolled Ruby over, punching her in the face as hard as she could.  
  
Ruby tried fighting back, but Reffy let out all of her anger on Ruby. Punching, kicking, pushing as hard as she could. She hated her, and she wanted Ruby to know it.  
  
Ruby grabbed onto Reffy's hair and pushed her flat down on the ground. Reffy kicked Ruby off of her and punched her in the eye.  
  
A crowd of newsies gathered around the two, but none of them made an effort to stop the fight. They were shocked. One, to see Reffy, and two, to see girls beating each other up on the street.  
  
Ruby punched Reffy in the cheek, but couldn't do anymore as Reffy continued to hit Ruby's face with her fists.  
  
After what seemed like forever, (but was really only a few seconds), Reffy felt somebody pull her off of the ground.  
  
"What the hell is going on here!" She heard the guy yell.  
  
She struggled, but who ever it was held onto her wrists. Reffy tried to fight it, but the person was much too strong to fight off.  
  
"LET ME GO!" Reffy screamed at the top of her lungs. She wanted more than anything to hurt Ruby again.  
  
The person held onto her wrists tighter, pulling Reffy towards his body and making her stop her struggle.  
  
Reffy opened her eyes and looked up. The boy holding her gasped.  
  
"REFFY?!" He yelled.  
  
Reffy's eyes got wide. She immediately stopped trying to fight him.  
  
"Spot?!" She gasped, suddenly embarrassed for trying to struggle with his strength. He was the most powerful newsie there ever was, and there was no point trying to fight with him.  
  
"The rumors are true." He said, his face softening and his eyes full of shock.  
  
Reffy swallowed hard and nodded her head. She bit her bottom lip and realized that she was more close to him than she ever was before.  
  
She was on the tip of her toes, her face inches from Spots as he held onto her wrists that he kept pulled to his chest.  
  
"Spot!" Ruby cried, tears rolling down her cheek. Racetrack helped her off the ground and was holding her up.  
  
Spot didn't look at Ruby, he kept his eyes on Reffy. Neither of them said anything, but Reffy felt nervous.  
  
"When did you get back?" He asked, still in a bit of a shock.  
  
"Not long ago." Reffy replied.  
  
"Spot!!!" Ruby cried again.  
  
Spot finally broke his gaze with Reffy and looked over at Ruby. He immediately let go of Reffy and walked over to her.  
  
Ruby collapsed in his arms, sobbing uncontrollably. Spot held her tight and kissed her head. It wasn't normal to see Spot act that way, so people just stood there and watched.  
  
Reffy let out a sigh as she touched her cheek. She felt a small cut on it, but it hurt from where Ruby punched her.  
  
"Did I miss it?" A voice said through the group of silent newsies.  
  
Everybody turned and saw Jack breaking through the crowd.  
  
"Did I miss Reffy making a fool of herself infront of everybody?" He asked, staring at Reffy and causing a few people to laugh.  
  
"Go away, Jack." Reffy replied.  
  
Spot was still holding Ruby, but turned his attention to Jack and Reffy.  
  
"What are you doing here, Reffy?" Jack asked.  
  
Reffy didn't answer him. She felt everybody staring at her.  
  
Jack laughed quietly. "What's wrong? You gonna cry?" He asked. Some people laughed, but everybody stayed silent.  
  
Reffy still had her reputation of being tough. It was unlikely for Reffy to lose a fight, but it was even more strange for her to be fighting with Jack Kelly.  
  
"I hate you." She said through her teeth.  
  
Jack looked around at the crowd and smiled. "Hear that, fellas? She hates me."  
  
The newsies all looked at Jack in disbelief. They never expected Jack to act that way to Reffy.  
  
"Oh SCREW YOU, JACK! I don't care if you're the damn leader of the Manhattan newsies, and I don't care that you're 'Jack Kelly', because that name means NOTHING to me. Don't act like you're big and tough because I know that deep down inside you're just an asshole playing a new girl every 5 seconds." Reffy spat. She immediately regretted saying it and covered her mouth with her hand.  
  
The newsies looked at her like she was crazy. They knew Reffy as being tough, but they had no idea that she'd talk down to Jack Kelly. Spot looked over at Jack and smirked at Reffy's attitude.  
  
Jack looked over at his girlfriend Chelsea, and then back at Reffy. "Listen kid, if it wasn't for me you'd still be in that jail. The whole world might think you're tough, but you're just a little girl. A little girl that got scared and ran off to Boston. And know what? You're not fooling anybody, you can beat up people like Ruby, but you're scared to take on anybody stronger than you." Jack said.  
  
"Oh yea?" Reffy asked, not wanting to look at all of the newsies staring at her in disbelief at what Jack was saying. Jack knew what he was saying wasn't true, but he wanted to make Reffy mad.  
  
Ruby lifted her head from Spot's chest and stared at Reffy, happy with what Jack was saying.  
  
Jack nodded his head as a small smirk went on his lips.  
  
Reffy ran over to Jack with her fists clenched, but felt Racetrack grab onto her arms.  
  
Jack started laughing. Reffy was a tough girl, but would never be able to touch Jack.  
  
"REFFY!" Racetrack yelled. "What are you thinkin?!"  
  
Reffy struggled, but couldn't get out of Racetrack's strong grip from behind her back.  
  
"I'm not some little girl, Jack! I'M 16, GOT IT?" She screamed, causing a bigger scene infront of the theater.  
  
"You don't act like it." Jack replied simply, looking over at Spot and shrugging his shoulders. Spot looked away from Jack and let go of Ruby. Reffy glanced over at Spot and felt her cheeks get even redder.  
  
"Reffy!" Racetrack said again, tightening his grip on her arms. "Calm down."  
  
"Get the hell away from me!" Reffy yelled, getting out of his grasp and running towards Jack.  
  
Reffy grabbed Jack's arm and pulled him off to the side.  
  
"What the HELL is your problem, JACK?!" Reffy screamed as loud as she could, letting all her anger out of her body.  
  
Jack narrowed his eyes and looked around at everybody staring at him. He pulled Reffy around the corner of the street.  
  
Spot walked over to Racetrack and raised his eyebrows.  
  
"She's back." Racetrack said, lighting a cigarette.  
  
"She's gorgeous." Spot replied to Racetrack, and walked back over to Ruby to see the show.  
  
"She's pissed." Racetrack said to himself with a smile, putting the cigarette to his mouth.  
  
---  
  
"Don't friggin touch me again." Reffy yelled, grabbing Jack's hand and throwing it off of her. "Don't EVER touch me again, you get it?! EVER." She yelled frantically, staring up at him with a mixture of hate and sadness in her eyes.  
  
Reffy put her hand to her head and took a deep breath. She looked around the empty street and realized that she was going crazy.  
  
"What's going on, Ref?" Jack asked.  
  
She looked at him like he was crazy. "You're asking me that? I came back from Boston, hoping like hell that I could get my life back on track, and you all of the sudden hate me!" She exclaimed.  
  
Jack's jaw dropped slightly. "You think I'M the bad guy here?!" Jack asked.  
  
Reffy rolled her eyes. "Oh, let's think about this for a second, Jack." She said sarcastically, pretending she was thinking hard about something. "So, I come back and you kick me out of the Lodging House, and then you throw me against a wall, making me scared outta my mind thinking that you're gonna kill me or something, and then you say something like that infront of all of the newsies! Even SPOT CONLON?! Who's the bad guy, huh? Who?" She asked, waiting for an answer.  
  
"What were you thinkin, Ref? Did you think that I would give you a huge hug and thank god that you FINALLY came back?!" Jack asked.  
  
Reffy couldn't make eye contact with him.  
  
"It's not gonna happen like that. Do you realize what the hell you did when you left?! You got all of us scared that you died or something, and then you write a letter saying that you're okay, but what did you say in that letter again?" Jack asked.  
  
Reffy, once again, couldn't make eye contact with him.  
  
"Lemme tell you... You said 'tell Jack that I'm staying out of trouble. Because that's all he ever thought about.'" Jack said, saying exactly what Reffy wrote in her letter.  
  
Reffy bit her bottom lip, staring down at the ground below her.  
  
"I told myself I wasn't gonna worry about ya a LONG time ago, Ref." Jack explained, still staring at her face, waiting for her to look up. "When you came back, you thought that things would be the same. Forget it, Reffy. I'm SO sick of helping you." Jack said.  
  
Reffy looked up at Jack, her eyes looked glassy because she was trying so hard not to cry. Jack never saw her cry before, she didn't want him to see it now.  
  
"I know..." Reffy started saying.  
  
"No, you don't know." Jack replied, cutting off her sentence. "I loved you like a sister, Ref. You just never realized all of the stuff I've done for you."  
  
He looked hurt, and Reffy felt more guilt in her as she stared into his eyes.  
  
"No, Jack it's not what you think...Y-ya just don't understand." Reffy said.  
  
"I got you outta that Refuge, risking my life doing it. Then I get you a job and make you one of the best girl newsies in New York. And I kept you outta trouble as much as I could, but you would ignore me when I'd try and help you!" Jack explained.  
  
Reffy couldn't believe her ears. "You got in just as much trouble as I did!" She said, her voice getting louder.  
  
"I stopped stealing a long time ago, you know that." He replied.  
  
Reffy rolled her eyes. "So it's okay for you to get into as many fights as possible, but it's not okay for me to steal some food or money from people who have so much of it that they don't even need it anymore?"  
  
"You're the one who just started soakin Ruby like she did something bad to ya." Jack replied, pointing around the corner to where all of the newsies were.  
  
"She deserved it." Reffy replied, looking around the empty street, having no intention to talk about Ruby.  
  
Jack ran his fingers through his hair and looked at Reffy again.  
  
"You can go back to the Lodging House tonight... But I don't want to talk to you. I'm not getting into any of your business. If you go back into that Refuge, I won't care anymore. I've cared way too much for you, I'm not doing it anymore." Jack said, giving her one last look and walking back around the corner.  
  
"Who said I was goin back there, huh? I'm not!" Reffy said, turning the corner and trying to get his attention. Most of the newsies already were in to see the show, but some of them were still outside.  
  
"JACK!" Reffy yelled, but Jack approached the theater without looking back at her.  
  
"C'mon Cowboy, this isn't finished yet." She said, running up to him.  
  
Jack ignored her completely and entered the building.  
  
Racetrack walked up behind Reffy and put his hand on her shoulder.  
  
"Don't worry about it." Racetrack said reassuringly.  
  
Reffy turned around to faced Racetrack.  
  
"This really sucks, you know that? This really, REALLY sucks." She said, running her fingers through her hair and fighting back her tears.  
  
He nodded his head in agreement. "Let's go back, I don't wanna see the show anymore." Race said, slipping his arm around Reffy's shoulder and pulling her down the street. "Besides, Spot showed up to see Ruby after all."  
  
"You were holding her hand and making her laugh." Reffy said as they walked. "You like Ruby."  
  
"Yea, but I liked it when you beat the shit outta her too." Racetrack replied, and smiled slightly.  
  
Reffy smiled too, also putting her arm around his shoulder as they walked.  
  
"I liked it too." She said with the smile still on her face, ignoring the bruise on her cheek that Ruby gave her. 


	23. Tips

Yea, yea, yea I know that you're probably thinking "finally" or something. I've been on vacation, and I'm going out of the country in a little bit and I'll probably be back mid-August. So, just clearing that up, here's some updates. 2 chapters, not that big of a deal but I tried. I'll update more if I can before I leave. In the meantime, I can't write all of the shout- outs because it would take me forever. Thanks for everybody for the support and patience (except for the select few who I have no intention of wasting my time on) --and I hope you don't get mad at the plot that I'm gonna get into for this story. Thanks guys.  
  
-=-  
  
Reffy softly slid her hand along the bunk beds in the Lodging House. The second they got there, Racetrack collapsed on his bed and he hadn't moved since.  
  
"Race?" She asked, her voice breaking the comfortable silence in the room.  
  
"Hm?" Racetrack answered, too tired to open his mouth to talk.  
  
"Where do I sleep?" She asked, turning towards his bed. She was on the opposite side of the empty room.  
  
Racetrack glanced at Reffy's old bed and sighed. It was Ruby's now.  
  
"I guess in Ruby's old bed." He said, pointing to a bed in the far corner of the room.  
  
Reffy let out a long sigh. "Oh." She walked over to the bed and sat down on it. "A'right." She said silently, looking around the room as Racetrack closed his eyes.  
  
"Race?" She asked again.  
  
"Yea?" He answered lazily.  
  
"My damn cheek hurts." She said, looking over at him. His eyes were closed, but a smirk appeared on his face.  
  
"Go put cold water on it." Racetrack replied.  
  
Reffy nodded her head and sat there silently, brushing her finger across her cheek. She put her hands behind her on the bed and looked at Racetrack again.  
  
"This is kinda weird." Reffy said, biting her bottom lip.  
  
Racetrack propped himself up on his elbow and stared at her.  
  
"You know, with Jack and all... The guy hates me and I'm sleeping in the same room as him." Reffy explained, looking at Jack's bunk in the middle of the room.  
  
"Don't worry about it, Ref. Just go to sleep that way you won't see him till mornin." Racetrack said and rested his head on his pillow again.  
  
After a little while, Reffy soon fell asleep too. It was going to be her first morning back selling newspapers, and she wanted to wake up early to avoid the rush of newsies she'd have to deal with.  
  
Reffy was in her bed and facing the wall beside her. She couldn't sleep at all.  
  
Late that night she heard footsteps walking up the stairs, it was the boys coming back from Medda's show. Reffy closed her eyes and listened as they walked around the rooms, talking about everything that happened that night.  
  
After a little while, the boys were getting ready to go to sleep. Reffy kept pretending like she was sleeping.  
  
"She asleep?" She heard somebody say. Reffy felt somebody stand over her to check and see if her eyes were closed.  
  
"Yea, she's sleeping." Skittery replied.  
  
"Did you see that fight?!" Blink said loudly. She heard boys all around the room 'shh' him, and Reffy tried not to smirk.  
  
"Where's Ruby tonight anyway?" Mush asked.  
  
"She's at Spot's." Jack said. Reffy tensed up hearing his voice.  
  
"What happened when you pulled Reffy around the corner, huh? Jack?" Blink joked.  
  
Jack scoffed. "Shut the hell up. Ain't none of your business what happened." He replied.  
  
"But you obviously let her sleep here," Dutchy said. "So, you guys love each other again?" He asked.  
  
Some of the guys laughed quietly, but Jack rolled his eyes.  
  
"It's impossible to love that girl." He said quietly. Reffy heard sadness in his voice.  
  
"Ruby got her once in the face, didja see that one?" Mush asked.  
  
"Yeah but Reffy almost killed the girl, so that one punch don't mean shit." Blink said laughing.  
  
Reffy tried to block their voices out of her head. She was overwhelmed with sadness in guilt because of Jack.  
  
Reffy purposely shifted to the opposite side so that she was facing the boys, but looked as if she was still sleeping. It was a good idea, because they all shut up and went to bed shortly after.  
  
The next morning, Reffy woke up early and bought her papers before everybody. She yawned as she walked down the street, pushing through the early morning crowds.  
  
Selling papers came naturally to her, so her first day back seemed like any old day.  
  
After shouting the headlines for what seemed like forever, she felt somebody tap her shoulder. Reffy turned around and saw a boy her height staring at her with his green eyes. He took off his hat and held it to his chest.  
  
"Heya Reffy, I'm Tips." The boy said, spitting in his free hand and extending it infront of her. Reffy did the same and shook it, noticing that the boy looked about 14 years old.  
  
"How can I help ya, Tips." Reffy said, adjusting the papers underneath her arm.  
  
"Spot Conlon sent me." He said. Reffy's eyes got wide.  
  
"W-what does he want?" Reffy asked, trying to act casual.  
  
"Said he needed to see you, and sent me to get ya." Tips said. "He said to go to the docks in Brooklyn after yous done sellin." Tips said.  
  
Reffy nodded her head. "Oh... Ok." She replied, butterflies in her stomach. "Thanks Tips." She said and smiled at him.  
  
Tips smiled back and nodded his head. Putting on his hat again, he walked back down the street.  
  
Reffy turned around and took a deep breath. She ran her fingers through her hair and noticed the pile of papers she had to sell. As fast as she could, she made up some headlines and sold her papers to people out on the street.  
  
After a little while, she was finally finished. It was late in the afternoon, so Reffy decided to make her way to Brooklyn.  
  
Walking across the bridge, she felt her heart beat harder. Last night she couldn't believe her eyes when she saw him, and she felt her feelings for him rush back inside of her.  
  
After walking, Reffy made it to Brooklyn. She ran her fingers through her hair, licked her lips, and walked down the wet dock. 


	24. Struggle

After getting looks from many Brooklyn boys, she saw Tips sitting on a small crate. Tips nodded his head at her and ran off to find Spot.  
  
Reffy looked around and saw some familiar faces, all winking at her and smiling. Reffy turned away and rolled her eyes, and tried to think about what Spot would want.  
  
A few minutes later she saw Tips walk up to her. "He's over there." He said, pointing down the dock.  
  
Reffy smiled lightly at him, and made her way further down the dock. She passed a few crates and then noticed Spot standing there, talking to a few newsies.  
  
One of the newsies nodded over towards Reffy. Spot turned around and saw her making her way towards them, and told the other newsies to go away.  
  
Reffy avoided the staring she got from the newsies passing by her, and made her way towards Spot. She noticed that they were hidden between piles of crates, and they were all alone on that end of the dock.  
  
Spot walked over to her with a smirk on his face.  
  
"Good to see ya, Reffy" Spot said, coming right up to her. Reffy felt her knees get weak looking into his eyes, but tried ignoring it.  
  
"Yea...Same to you, Conlon." Reffy said, looking up at him. He was a few inches taller than her.  
  
"I was surprised to see ya last night." Spot mentioned, turning around and walking towards a crate.  
  
"Um, uh huh..." Reffy replied. She clasped her hands behind her back.  
  
"When'd you get back?" Spot asked, sitting down on the crate and looking at her.  
  
"Ummm..." Reffy thought, looking up at the sky in thought. "2 days ago." She said, looking down at him again. She noticed him checking her out, and felt uncomfortable all of the sudden.  
  
"It was a little rumor around Brooklyn," Spot said. "I didn't know if it was true."  
  
Reffy nodded her head, sitting on a crate near him and crossing her legs indian style.  
  
"Boston, huh?"  
  
Reffy felt her cheeks turn red and looked down at her hands.  
  
"What's wrong? Don't wanna talk about it?" He asked and smirked at her.  
  
Reffy looked up at him and smiled slightly. "No, it's just... I dunno. Forget it." She said, shaking her head.  
  
"Find any boys in Boston ya got attached to?" He asked. Reffy was surprised at the question.  
  
"I-I was in the mill most of the time," She replied, looking down at her hands again.  
  
Spot nodded his head and slid off the crate he was sitting on.  
  
Reffy felt her body tense up. She looked up and saw him walk over to her. He put his hand on her knee as he sat down beside her.  
  
"Why'd you wanna see me?" Reffy asked, glancing down at his hand. His thumb was rubbing her leg and she bit her lip.  
  
"Just wanted to see you cuz it's been a while. Wanted to talk... That's all." Spot said, moving his hand further up her leg. It was unlikely for Spot to call for somebody just to 'talk'.  
  
"Um.." Reffy said quietly, looking out infront of her. "Are you...Still with Ruby?" She asked. Reffy bit her lip, hating herself for asking that. She knew the answer already.  
  
"Yea." Spot replied, removing his hand from her leg. Reffy felt so uncomfortable sitting there.  
  
"Well," Reffy said, raising her eyebrows. "It's been a long time, you know.., Still being with her and all." She said, turning her head slightly and looking at him.  
  
"Sure." Spot replied. "But I don't wanna talk about her."  
  
Reffy straightened her legs and hung them off the side of the crate. She started getting sick and tired, wondering what he was trying to pull. She got up and stood infront of him as he sat on the crate.  
  
"Well, what the hell are you trying to pull then? I came to see you because I thought you wanted something, and now you randomly want to talk? What, are you mad at me for soakin Ruby last night or something?" Reffy asked.  
  
"Why would I be mad?" He asked simply, looking up at her.  
  
"Because you love the girl and I screwed up her face a little bit." Reffy answered in an obvious tone, looking away from him and out onto the water.  
  
Spot laughed. "I don't love her." He said, getting up and standing infront of Reffy. "And she busted your cheek a little bit there." He said putting his index finger on her cheek. Reffy moved her face away from his hand.  
  
"One hit. Big deal. Just a lucky shot, that's all. Nothin' for the girl to brag about." Reffy said, rolling her eyes.  
  
"Yea, I was kinda shocked to see her hit ya." Spot replied.  
  
She raised her eyebrows. "Spot, what's the point of being with her?"  
  
Spot gave her a look.  
  
"If you don't love her, then what's the point of staying with her this long?" Reffy asked.  
  
Spot smirked again at Reffy. He put his hands on her hips and Reffy felt her heart start pounding. She wanted to look away, but it seemed as if he kept his eyes locked into hers and wouldn't let her go.  
  
"You okay?" He asked, sounding confused. He must have noticed that Reffy got short of breath.  
  
"I'm fine." She replied, trying her best to stay calm.  
  
"Just makin sure. I wouldn't want ya soakin me like you did Ruby last night if I touched ya." Spot said in a low tone of voice, never losing eye contact with her.  
  
"Depends on what you do, I just might hafta." Reffy said and smiled at him.  
  
"Would you beat me up if I kissed ya?" Spot asked, raising his eyebrows and keeping his stare into her eyes.  
  
Reffy opened her mouth to say something but nothing came out. She felt his arms wrap around her waist.  
  
She wanted to say no. This was Spot Conlon. Spot Conlon! Brooklyn's leader, the guy who could get any girl in the world. The guy who cheats on his girlfriend with any girl he could find. Spot Conlon, the guy that Reffy wanted to be with.  
  
Reffy tried to back away, but he moved his face closer to hers.  
  
"Spot." She said, shaking her head and putting her hands on his chest, pushing him away slightly. He kept his arms wrapped tightly around her waist.  
  
"What's the problem?" He whispered, moving his face closer to hers again.  
  
Reffy turned her head and leaned back slightly. She looked around frantically to see if anybody was watching.  
  
Spot removed his hands from her waist. Reffy felt him do it, and looked back into his eyes again.  
  
He cupped her face in his hands and moved in closer.  
  
"Spot!" She said louder, but he wouldn't let her move.  
  
Reffy was about to say something else, but felt his soft lips on hers. She didn't know what to do, she lost all feeling in her body.  
  
Spot pushed her slowly, leaning her back up against a wooden ladder that was propped up against part of the docks.  
  
Reffy felt his hands leave her face, but he never pulled his lips away. Spot lifted his arms up and held onto the ladder on either side of her head, pushing himself onto her.  
  
She roughly moved her head, and tried pushing him away.  
  
"What's with the struggle, huh?" He asked, moving his head towards hers again.  
  
"What the hell has gotten into you?!" Reffy said loudly, moving her head away from him again.  
  
"Nothing." He said and started kissing across her cheek from her ear towards her lips.  
  
"HEY CONLON!" Somebody yelled off in the distance.  
  
Reffy struggled when she heard the voice, but Spot kept giving her soft, but quick kisses along the top of her neck.  
  
"They won't come over here." He said between the kisses.  
  
He lifted his head up to hers and kissed her passionately, causing Reffy to hold onto the ladder behind her for support.  
  
"CONLON!" The voice yelled again. Spot abruptly pulled away from Reffy's lips and rolled his eyes.  
  
"WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU WANT?!" He yelled, causing Reffy to jump. Spot kept holding onto the ladder, but looked over to where the voice was coming from.  
  
"Your girl just showed up!" The voice yelled back.  
  
Spot let go of the ladder and moved away from Reffy as fast as possible. Reffy looked around the dock, trying to find a place to hide.  
  
"Over there!" Spot said in a loud whisper.  
  
"Where?!" Reffy whispered back, looking at him frantically.  
  
Spot put his hands on her shoulders and pushed her behind a few crates. Reffy ducked down as low as she could and nervously bit her lip. Then, she felt her cheeks turn red.  
  
'That did not just happen' she thought to herself as she put her hand to her forehead.  
  
"Spot, what the hell are you doing back here?" Ruby asked, walking over to Spot with her hands on her hips.  
  
"None ya business." Spot replied, adjusting the hat on his head.  
  
"Boys were saying that Reffy was here not to long ago." Ruby said. Reffy rolled her eyes.  
  
"Yea she was here for a second, that's it." Spot said, shrugging his shoulders.  
  
Ruby sighed. "Ok, but I don't like her coming over here."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"I don't trust that girl for a minute." Ruby said, walking closer to Spot and wrapping her arms around his neck.  
  
"It's just Reffy," Spot replied. "Besides, you can trust me, right?" He asked, smiling and slowly wrapping his arms around her waist.  
  
Reffy ran her fingers through her hair and was sick of listening to them. She peeked her head over the crate and saw them walking into the bunkroom together.  
  
Reffy stood up and ran down the dock, getting out of there as fast as she could.  
  
Ignoring all of the Brooklyn boys looking at her, she ran to the end of the dock, not looking where she was going.  
  
"Watch it, kid!"  
  
Reffy turned around to face the person that she just pushed past.  
  
"Hiya Race." Reffy said out of breath.  
  
"What are you doing here?!" He asked, grabbing her arm and walking off of the dock with her.  
  
"Getting friggin kissed by Spot Conlon which I was totally not expecting him to do, what about you?" Reffy asked, linking her arm in Race's arm  
  
"Just walked Ruby over here." Racetrack replied.  
  
"Oh." Reffy said simply.  
  
Reffy felt herself being pulled back as Racetrack stopped walking.  
  
"What?" Reffy said, looking at him.  
  
"Spot Conlon kissed you?!" He asked loudly.  
  
Reffy covered his mouth with her free hand.  
  
"Took you 10 seconds to figure out I said that?" Reffy asked.  
  
Racetrack grabbed her hand and pulled it down from his mouth.  
  
"Spot kissed you?!" He asked.  
  
Reffy sighed and continued walking with him.  
  
"Yeah, but you can't tell anybody." She replied.  
  
"I didn't think you had it in ya, Ref." Racetrack said, shaking his head. "You soak Ruby last night, then you just walk over to Brooklyn and kiss her boyfriend?"  
  
"He sent someone to get me actually... So, it wasn't my fault. Besides Race, he came onto ME. I tried to stop him, I swear to god. He just wouldn't stop." Reffy replied, glancing at him and biting her lip in frustration.  
  
"So... You wanted him to stop but he wouldn't let you go or something?" He asked, not believing one word of it.  
  
"Jesus, Racetrack! You know for a fact that I wouldn't do anything like that. Use your stupid little Italian brain for once and stop questioning me about this!" She yelled with panic in her voice, walking infront of Racetrack to face him. "I swear I didn't want him to do anything! I swear."  
  
Racetrack raised his eyebrows. Reffy's voice got weaker at the end of her sentence, and she had to cough a few times to get it back.  
  
"Are you okay?" He asked, ignoring the fact that she was yelling at him.  
  
Reffy looked down at the ground and put her hand to her neck. She took a few deep breaths and looked back up at him.  
  
"I'm fine." She replied quietly, her voice cracking. She made a mental note to keep down with the yelling, because for some reason her breathing was still bad ever since that night in Boston. She didn't think anything of it.  
  
"Well, for your information kid, you have a 'stupid little Italian brain' too." Racetrack said and smiled at her.  
  
"Yeah." Reffy said laughing. "It just kinda came out." Her voice sounded practically gone.  
  
"I believe you." Racetrack said, getting back to the subject. "I know Spot's like that. We gotta tell Jack about this."  
  
"NO!" Reffy tried yelling, but it came out in a pathetic whisper.  
  
Racetrack frowned at the condition of her voice, but dismissed it from his mind.  
  
"We gotta tell him." Race replied, pushing past her and walking back to the LH.  
  
Reffy caught up with him and grabbed his shoulders, looked him in the eye, and shook her head.  
  
Racetrack put his arm around her shoulder and kept walking.  
  
"Fine. The things I do for you." He said silently as they walked back. 


	25. I Hate Him

Hey all... Okay, I've been thinking, and I hate leaving you all hanging. So I'll probably end the story soon, I already know what's going to happen. You all won't have to be mad at me anymore lol  
  
Oh, and I can't write out all the shouts for the reviews this time, but hopefully I'll be able to do shouts soon.  
  
One more thing - This chapter goes on right where the last one ended. I recommend that you re-read the last chapter so that you don't get confused.  
  
Thanks for the support, you're all the best! E-mail me if you have questions. Racehiggins@yahoo.com  
  
"...And then they gave me the money to come back. So.. here I am." Reffy finished, her voice still hoarse. All during her and Racetracks' walk to Manhattan she told him about Boston. She told him about the factory, the girls in it, the work, the food, the house...  
  
But the one thing she didn't tell him was about Gracie, and the fight, and Jack's daughter... And when she got sick...  
  
"They just gave you the money? Just like that?" Racetrack asked curiously.  
  
"Well, yeah. They were my friends."  
  
"Where the hell do I find friends like THAT?" Racetrack asked. Reffy smirked and cleared her throat once more, deciding not to answer his stupid question.  
  
"Ref, what's up with your voice?" Racetrack asked. She hoped he wouldn't ask her this.  
  
"I don't know." Reffy replied simply. She shrugged her shoulders and tried to keep in the coughs that were trying to escape from her throat.  
  
Racetrack looked at her from the corner of his eye as they walked down the final street towards the Lodging House.  
  
"Are you gonna talk to Jack tonight?" He asked.  
  
"Why should I? I'm in the Lodging House, and that's all that matters. It's not like I need him for anything else." Reffy lied.  
  
"It's just weird, you and Jack not talking... Y'know? And a lot of the guys are afraid to talk to you."  
  
Reffy raised her eyebrows at Racetrack.  
  
"They're afraid Jack would get mad that they're welcoming you back or something." Racetrack said, answering her silent question.  
  
"That's stupid." Reffy replied quietly. They walked up the steps to the Lodging House, the day was breaking into night, and all of the guys were returning from their long days out on the streets.  
  
"What are you gonna do about Spot?" Racetrack asked Reffy quietly as they both sat on her bed in the corner of the room. (She glared over at her old bed, knowing that Ruby slept in it now.)  
  
"Avoid him." She answered.  
  
Racetrack rolled his eyes at her pitiful response. He got up so that Reffy could lay down, and went over to his own bunk.  
  
The night was uneventful, in Reffy's mind. Jack didn't return until later, and climbed into the top bunk the second that he got in. The newsies avoided Reffy at all costs, but it didn't bother her. They just weren't useto her being home yet. Especially when there was so much tension between her and Jack.  
  
Besides, she didn't want to deal with anybody right now. She was tired, and thoughts ran through her mind a mile a minute.  
  
Jack and Chelsea. Jack and Gracie. Spot and Ruby. Spot and her... Everything was so messed up. She fell into a dreamless sleep, dreading the fact that she had to face another day the next morning.  
  
- - -  
  
"What's Tips doing here?" Racetrack asked the next afternoon, looking over Reffy's shoulder. She finished selling before Racetrack and was having fun rubbing it in his face.  
  
Reffy looked up at Racetrack and let out an aggravated sigh.  
  
"Tips, the kid that Spot sends around everywhere? THAT Tips?" She asked.  
  
"Do you know another Tips, Ref?" Racetrack asked. Reffy rolled her eyes, knowing that answer to the question already.  
  
"Don't tell me he's coming over here." Reffy replied.  
  
"Alright, I won't. But I'm lying to you. I'll see you back at the Lodging House, I gotta sell these." Racetrack disappeared into the crowd before Reffy could stop him.  
  
"Reffy, Spot needs you."  
  
Reffy put her hand to her forehead when she heard Tips voice behind her. She slowly turned around and stared at him.  
  
"Tell him I'm busy." Reffy said. Tips was breathing heavily, as if he ran over here.  
  
"He said it's important. He said that somethings wrong and he needs you as soon as possible." Tips said. His voice sounded serious.  
  
The calm look on Reffy's face quickly dropped.  
  
"What's wrong? Is everything okay?" She asked quickly.  
  
"I don't know, he wouldn't tell me." Tips said quickly, trying to catch his breath.  
  
"Shit." Reffy mumbled underneath her breath.  
  
"So are you gonna go?"  
  
"You gotta be kidding me..." Reffy said under her breath again.  
  
"He said it was important - "  
  
"I knowww..." Reffy whined. She didn't want to walk to Brooklyn again.  
  
"Are you gonna go?"  
  
"Fine." Reffy said quickly. "Fine, fine, I'll go."  
  
Reffy walked past Tips in a rush, trying to walk through the crowds as fast as possible. Tips would usually hang around Manhattan for a while, so she didn't even bother waiting for him.  
  
Her mind wasn't thinking straight. Something must have been wrong. It was obvious that Tips ran over to Manhattan. She felt bad for the kid, she'd never be able to run that far, no matter how much she's ran from the cops before.  
  
Reffy walked faster than usual, trying to get to Spot as soon as she could. What if something happened? Why would Spot send for her, and not Jack or something?  
  
Thoughts were running through her head as she walked onto the dock and down the damp wood structure, past all of the people staring at her.  
  
"Where's Spot?" Reffy asked a group of boys over where Spot usually was.  
  
"He's inside." One of them answered.  
  
The boys kept talking to her, but she ignored them and walked through the doors.  
  
"Spot?" Reffy said loudly, almost in a panic.  
  
Spot came from inside one of the rooms and motioned her to follow him. The went into the room and he shut the door quickly behind her.  
  
"What's wrong? Is everything alright?" Reffy asked as they walked into Spot's room.  
  
Spot walked over to Reffy and wrapped his strong arms around her waist.  
  
"Everything's fine." He replied, looking down at her and smirking.  
  
Reffy's eyes got wide and she pulled away from him.  
  
"Are you serious?!"  
  
"Relax, Ref." "Spot, I practically killed myself getting over here as fast as I could walk and there's nothing important you need to tell me?!"  
  
"I didn't think you'd come if I didn't say it was important." Spot said honestly, but Reffy's anger was still inside of her.  
  
"You scared the shit out of me, Spot! I thought something happened!"  
  
Spot came closer to her and put out his arms.  
  
"Stay the hell away from me, I can't even look at you right now." Reffy said, turning around and wrapping her arms around her waist.  
  
"I'm sorry, Reffy, okay? I'm sorry. I just wanted to see you, is that so bad?"  
  
She didn't answer.  
  
"You're telling me you didn't feel anything yesterday on the dock? Are you honestly trying to tell me that you didn't feel that?"  
  
"Feel what?" Reffy asked, turning around and facing him.  
  
"I don't know what it was, but it was something. Something was there." Spot said.  
  
Reffy couldn't tell if he was lying. His eyes would sometimes have a look of mystery in them that she could never figure out.  
  
"The only thing I felt was me telling you to stop - "  
  
"Ref, don't start with this, please..."  
  
" - And did you? Ofcourse not! You didn't even hesitate, you just kept going! and I - "  
  
Spot went closer to her and wrapped his arms around her waist again. Reffy quickly shut up and put her hands on her chest to push him away.  
  
"Relax." Spot said calmly for the second time.  
  
Reffy felt her heart beating harder than ever. "Spot.." She fought, but he held her closer.  
  
"It's okay, Ref." He said softly. "Calm down, nobody's gonna know." He said and lowered his lips near hers.  
  
Reffy felt as if she couldn't breathe. Spot's soft lips brushed hers, and Reffy jolted her head back.  
  
"You can't just do this. What if people know?" She asked, looking into his eyes.  
  
"Relax." Spot said repeated, and started kissing her.  
  
Reffy gave up and wrapped her arms around his neck, deepening the kiss. Although, in her mind, she knew she'd regret it.  
  
Spot smiled within the kiss and pushed her over to his bed, lowering her body down and laying ontop of her.  
  
The only thing that didn't stop Reffy was the curiousity in her mind. Practically her whole life as a newsie she wanted this moment to happen. She didn't want it now, but her mind was taking over, and just wanted to see what it would have been like.  
  
Reffy felt his strong body ontop of hers and ran her fingers through his hair. Spot removed one of his hands from around her waist and crept it up her stomach.  
  
"SPOT!" Reffy and Spot broke their kiss and sat up as fast as they could.  
  
"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!" Ruby screamed, standing at the doorway with her hand slightly covering her mouth.  
  
"What are you doing here?!" Spot asked. "I told you a couple hours ago I was going for a walk with Jimmy!" Ruby yelled.  
  
Reffy couldn't believe her ears. Spot knew she was in Brooklyn, but he still did this.  
  
Spot rolled his eyes and removed his hand from around Reffy's waist and stood up. Reffy still sat there in complete shock.  
  
"This can't be happening. You knew she was here?!" Reffy said outloud and ran her fingers through her hair. Spot never answered.  
  
"I come to see my boyfriend and I have to walk in on you and this.. this SLUT?!" Ruby yelled, pointing at Reffy on the bed.  
  
"EXCUSE ME?!" Reffy yelled, standing up next to Spot. "I'm not the one who wanted me to come here, HE wanted me here."  
  
"Ruby, it's not what you think." Spot said, walking over to her.  
  
"Yea, okay, like THAT line is gonna work, Spot." Reffy said obviously, looking at Ruby's furious face.  
  
Spot looked back at Reffy and gave her a look, and quickly turned around to face Ruby again.  
  
"Listen, baby." He explained, putting his arms on her shoulders.  
  
"NO!" Ruby screamed and ran out of the room.  
  
Spot followed her, and Reffy walked over to the door, looking out at the two fighting in the bunkroom.  
  
"Get out of here!" Ruby yelled, pointing at Reffy.  
  
"So it's okay when it's you and Racetrack, but this isn't acceptable? YEAH, RUBY, because that makes PERFECT sense." Reffy said sarcastically, throwing her hands in the air and walking past them to the door.  
  
Spot put his hand up to his face and took a deep breath.  
  
"Wait until I tell everybody, Spot. YOU JUST WAIT!" Ruby said, pointing a finger in Spot's face.  
  
"Reffy." Spot said over Ruby's shoulder. Reffy turned around and glared at him.  
  
"Don't talk to me again, Spot Conlon. Don't you ever, understand? Ever! Or I'll tell Jack, and you know what he'll do!"  
  
"Jack hates you! Get the hell out of here!!" Ruby screamed at her, and turned back to Spot.  
  
Reffy stormed out of the Lodging House, wrapping her arms around her waist and letting out a long sigh. She heard the couple yelling at eachother, but decided to get as far away from them as she could.  
  
She hated herself. Why did she have to do stupid things like that? Now she was stuck walking back to Manhattan by herself, with nothing but the images of Spot in her head. 'I had no idea I was this stupid,' Reffy thought to herself. Walking towards the bridge, she started to realize how many regrets she had in her life so far.  
  
'Well..' Reffy thought to herself again. 'Atleast he's a good kisser.'  
  
She let out an aggrivated sigh, and regretted even thinking that.  
  
"I hate him." Reffy said outloud to herself. She started the long walk back to the Lodging House. 


	26. Death and Danger

I'm snowed in by 2 ½ feet, so what else is there to do but to update for all of the beautiful people who I love to death who review! =) Thanks you guys, I appreciate it! Sorry no shout-outs this chapter, so E-mail me if you need to discuss something.  
  
Reffy walked through the door of the Lodging House, and tried to jump up and touch the top of the doorframe on the way in. Ofcourse, she was too short to reach it.  
  
"One day you'll get it, Reffy." Boots said as he looked back at her on his way towards the stairs.  
  
"Yeah, one day I'll be tall enough." Reffy said and smiled at him as he went up to the bunkroom.  
  
It had been a full week since Ruby walked in on Reffy and Spot. Ruby did nothing but shoot her dirty looks, but avoided a physical fight with Reffy at all costs. It amused Reffy that Ruby was scared of her, but it still didn't change her feelings towards Spot, who she now called "Spot the Slut" whenever she spoke about him to Racetrack.  
  
"WHEN SPOT SHOWS UP TELL HIM I'LL BE DOWN IN A MINUTE!!!" Ruby screamed from upstairs to anybody who could hear her on the first floor.  
  
"When Spot shows up I'll shove my papes down his damn throat." Reffy mumbled to herself.  
  
On her way towards the stairs, Kloppman appeared from kneeling down behind the desk. Reffy jumped back.  
  
"Kloppman?!"  
  
"Sorry I scared ya, Reffy! Just picking up a pile of junk that fell, that's all." Kloppman dissapeared behind the desk again.  
  
"Oh, let me help ya."  
  
Reffy walked behind the desk and knelt down on the floor, picking up random letters and pieces of paper that have been piling up on the desk for ages.  
  
"Where does all this come from anyways?" Reffy asked as she filed through some of the junk.  
  
"I don't get rid of things," Kloppman smiled. "Afraid I'll need it someday, you know?"  
  
Reffy glanced at him and smiled. "Yeah, I know what you mean."  
  
"Maybe one day I'll get around to cleaning it up." Kloppman said, but was cut off by the sound of the door opening.  
  
Racetrack swung the door open and ran inside. The cold wind swept through the room before the door shut, and caused some other things to scatter on the ground on the side of the desk.  
  
"Sorry." Racetrack mumbled, trying to hide the smirk on his face.  
  
"Sure you are." Reffy joked with him. "I got this Klopp."  
  
"Thanks a lot, Reffy. Appreciate it! I'll be in the office if you kids need me."  
  
"Thanks Kloppman." Reffy and Racetrack said in unison. Racetrack picked up another random letter and threw it on the ground infront of where Reffy was kneeling down.  
  
"Thanks."  
  
"No Problem." Racetrack answered, smiling at her and walking towards the steps.  
  
Reffy smiled to herself as she collected the rest of the things on the floor. She put the pile of things on the desk and knelt down to pick up the random letter that Racetrack threw on the floor. She dropped down her knees and gasped.  
  
"Oh my god." She whispered, running her fingers over the beautiful cursive on the front of the letter. "I don't believe it..."  
  
"REFFY, WE GOT A POKER GAME UP HERE."  
  
"I'm busy!" Reffy said, but not loud enough for her voice to reach the top of the stairs.  
  
"GET YOUR ASS UP HERE!"  
  
"I said I'm busy, Race!" Reffy yelled louder. She realized that she wouldn't be able to focus in the Lodging House. So, grabbing her scarf, she walked out the door and sat on the steps.  
  
Reffy just stared at the front of the letter, mesmorized by the words written in black ink. She had never seen her name written so neatly in her whole entire life. Slowly turning it over, Reffy stared at the circle of black wax that held the flap down on the envelope.  
  
Careful not to rip it, she lifted off the wax and pulled two peices of folded up paper from the envelope.  
  
As she unfolded the two peices of paper, her heart started racing. What she saw almost caused her eyes to water.  
  
"Dearest Fi." Reffy whispered to herself, reading the top line.  
  
It was from the girls at the factory. Nobody else has ever called her Fi except for them. Reffy pulled the scarf up to her ears to block the chilly wind, and read through the whole thing.  
  
Dearest Fi,  
  
Have you forgotten us? We certainly haven't forgotten you, Reffy. It is your friends from the Factory in Massachusetts, and oh - how we miss you! It seems so lonely without seeing your face everyday, it's been horrible.  
  
I'm sorry to tell you this, but there is some bad news. Little Piper got ill shortly after your leave. She had hope of a full recovery after seeing you feel better after you became sick. Oh, she never stopped talking about you. But, then Little Piper became gravely ill, and never got her full recovery. Little Piper is in heaven now. The doctors said she had that Black Lung that many factory girls have gotten because of the air where all our machines are. We miss her more than anything, but she's an angel now, and is looking out for all of us in heaven.  
  
We would love to see you again, Reffy. Piper would have wanted it. Maybe one day I'll paths will cross and we'll be able to talk about some of the fun times we have all had together. I hope things are going well with your newspapers. Maybe you'll find the time to write us! We miss you dearly, Reffy. Hope you didn't forget us.  
  
Love, Your Forgotten Sisters  
  
"Piper..." Reffy squeaked as she finished reading the letter. Her whole body went numb as she re-read parts of the letter over and over again.  
  
She felt too cold to cry, and too numb to feel anymore emotions than she already had inside of her. Reffy folded up the paper with shaky hands and shoved it in her pocket. Things were running through her mind a mile a minute, and she needed to take a walk.  
  
"Black lung, Pip? I thought you'd be out of there by now. I thought you would learn how bad it was working there. I thought you'd be smarter than that. Jesus, Piper... Why are you doing this to me..." Reffy said to herself, mumbling meaningless nothings through her lips, not understanding anything that she was saying to herself.  
  
Little did Reffy notice that two men in blue uniforms were standing on the street corner in soft conversation. And Reffy didn't notice the baker walking into his store with a basket of bread that he was selling a few streets over. She didn't notice him drop the basket and fumble around to pick up the bread that was sprawled though the street.  
  
As Reffy walked, staring down at her feet, she came upon peices of bread on the ground. Bending down to pick one up to take a closer look, she lifted her head and made eye contact with the baker.  
  
"PUT THAT DOWN!" The baker yelled.  
  
Startled, Reffy's jaw dropped slightly as her fingers trembled. No words would process through her mind.  
  
"I said, put down the bread!!" The baker yelled louder, holding his basket and his face turning red with anger.  
  
'I'm not stealing anything!' Reffy thought to herself, 'I wasn't going to run away! I wasn't, I just picked it up!'  
  
Her lips were parted, but nothing was coming out. Her hair flung around her shoulders, and her fingers still held on to the bread. Meanwhile, the men in uniform stopped their conversation and looked onto the scene that was happening infront of the bakery.  
  
"Don't test me, girl!" The baker yelled angrily. "You didn't pay for that."  
  
'I know that I didn't pay for it, you idiot!' Reffy thought. Why was she so scared of this guy?  
  
"What's going on here?" One of the men in uniform said as he approached the baker.  
  
"SHE'S STEALING FROM ME!" The baker screamed, pointing his finger at Reffy. At that, Reffy dropped the bread to the ground and scoffed.  
  
"The bread probably sucks anyways! Besides, I wasn't stealing anything!" Reffy yelled.  
  
The second man in uniform squinted his eyes at her. He slowly walked forward and tilted his head to one side.  
  
"Wait.. I know this girl." The cop said. "I recognize her."  
  
"No you don't!" Reffy said, knowing that he probably did recognize her from the many times that her and Racetrack would run from the cops.  
  
"She's a theif! Put her in that childrens Refuge you have, will you? I don't need anymore children stealing from my bakery!"  
  
Reffy gasped. Her head was telling her to run, but her legs wouldn't move.  
  
Reffy had no idea what was happening, or why the baker was paranoid, or why the cops were walking towards her. She felt the feeling get back into her legs and ran full speed down the street.  
  
"I KNEW I RECOGNIZED HER!" The cop yelled as they ran after her.  
  
She ran through the familiar streets as fast as she could, the only thing that was on her mind was getting away from these men who accused her of stealing that stupid peice of bread.  
  
Reffy turned a corner and saw a boy standing 10 feet infront of her.  
  
"Reffy?!! What are you doing?!"  
  
"I didn't steal anything! I didn't! The baker thought I did!" Reffy yelled as she ran straight ahead. She didn't even look up to see who it was, and she really didn't care. She completely forgot that Spot Conlon was on his way to see Ruby.  
  
She felt herself being pulled into a side street and behind stairs going up to an apartment. She looked up and saw the two cops run by.  
  
Spot Conlon pulled Reffy out from behind the stairs and stared at her. That's when she realized who it was.  
  
Reffy was speechless. Why Spot Conlon would ever help her after the rejection she put him through their last couple of visits completely baffled her. So many questions were running through her head. So many words were running through her mind. But she spit out the only word that would release from her lips.  
  
"Why?!"  
  
"Why what?" Spot asked. His hands were on his knees as he tried to catch his breath.  
  
Reffy realized that she was leaning back against the brick wall, and was thankful that she had it to support her as Spot looked up into her eyes. Her knees went weak from exaustion.  
  
"Why'd you do it?"  
  
"Help you?" Spot asked as he straightened up.  
  
"Yeah..." Reffy answered, her voice was shaky. "Why?"  
  
"Why not?" Spot replied, avoiding the meaning of the question.  
  
Reffy stood up straight, away from the wall, and scoffed.  
  
"Conlon, just because you just did that for me doesn't mean that I'm letting you off the hook without telling me what's up. So do yourself a favor and stop with the small talk shit and tell me why! Why, huh?! Why the hell would you help me?" Reffy yelled, her voice getting louder after every word.  
  
Spot stood there and stared at her, his eyes were wide with confusion as to why she would yell at him in a time like this.  
  
"Why are you yelling at m -"  
  
"I'M asking the questions, Conlon!"  
  
"Calm down and let me answer then -"  
  
"WHY DID YOU SAVE ME?" Reffy yelled.  
  
For the first time, Spot realized that something was troubling her. He looked at Reffy and studied her every feature. Her hair was hanging in her face and flung around her shoulders, and her eyes were pleading for all of the answers that were eating away at her. She was still out of breath, but she was beautiful. Spot didn't know the right thing to say that would calm her nerves.  
  
Spot took a deep breath. "Ofcourse I'd help you, Ref." He answered in as soft of a voice he could manage.  
  
When Reffy didn't reply with anything, he kept going.  
  
"What was I gonna do? Sit there and watch you get caught by the cops?"  
  
"But I didn't steal anything."  
  
"I know that!" Spot said. This time he was the one to interupt her. So Reffy stood there and listened.  
  
"What happened at the docks, just forget it. Things have changed, Reffy. Everythings changed around here, and you're just starting to figure it all out. You missed a lot while you were working in that damn factory in Massachusetts."  
  
"What'd I miss, huh? You all of the sudden changed into the sex-craved leader of Brooklyn who would get his excitement from any girl that he sees?" Reffy asked. "Oh wait... Nevermind, you were ALWAYS like that."  
  
Spot rolled his eyes. "You're so fucking difficult."  
  
"Then spell it out for me. What exactly has changed, because I obviously need to know about it if you're gonna start lecturing me -"  
  
"Everything has changed!" Spot yelled, interupting her again. He put his hand on his forehead in frustration. "Ref, you came home from Boston to completely different people. Jack's engaged, Racetrack and Ruby have been screwing around for God knows how long, and then you come home from Boston with news about Jack's baby and think that things will be normal again!"  
  
Reffy gasped. She put her hand over her mouth and backed up against the wall again. "You know about Jack's baby?"  
  
"I've known Jack my whole life, Reffy. Even before you. I know everything about that guy, and believe me, he ain't too happy that you're getting news on that kid of his."  
  
Reffy sighed in confusion and shook her head. "A'right, I admit it, I made a mistake getting into his business, okay? The only thing I want to know right now is why you would help me after the way I've been acting."  
  
"It's the Refuge. Nobody deserved to be in there... Not even a stealing street rat like yourself." Spot replied as he went to walk out of the alley.  
  
Reffy smirked to herself and turned towards him.  
  
"Spot?" She asked. He turned around.  
  
"Don't tell Jack." Reffy said.  
  
Spot smiled. "Dollface, do I EVER tell Jack?" He asked sarcastically as he turned and walked away.  
  
As she watched him jog back to the Lodging House, something processed through her mind. Did he just say that Jack was engaged? .  
  
"You've GOT to be kidding me." Reffy whispered loudly to herself as she broke into a run to catch up to Spot who was probably already at the Lodging House.  
  
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	27. Breakdown

I'm not going to bother explaining myself. It has been SO long since I even looked at this story, but I felt horrible for leaving it like this. This needs to be finished, and I'm finally going to do it. I'll update again soon, I'm still writing! Review with your input! This chapter takes off right from the last one...

As Reffy walked into the Lodging House, she noticed that Ruby wasn't downstairs yet to greet Spot. Reffy took the opportunity to pull Spot over to the side to talk.

"Spot, I think you made a mistake." Reffy said, still out of breath from running back.

"Ref, hun, I don't think it's a good idea for Ruby to see us together." Spot replied, glancing over at the stairs that Ruby would be walking down any minute.

"…You just told me Jack was engaged!" Reffy finished, completely ignoring what Spot had just said.

Spot's jaw slightly dropped. "I didn't say that."

"Ya Spot, YOU DID." Reffy argued, panic rising in her voice. "What's going on? He asked that girl to marry him! Why? When? How come I didn't know this!"

"Because he didn't yet!" Spot said in a hushed voice, making sure no one could hear their conversation. "He is thinking about it, and it slipped when I was talking to you."

Spot suddenly greeted Ruby as she walked down the stairs, not giving Reffy a chance to reply. The couple left the Lodging House, but not before Ruby shot Reffy a look that could kill.

Reffy could care less about Ruby at the moment. She had no idea Jack was so into this girl Chelsea. For some reason, Reffy felt jealous. Jack useto be her life, but now he wanted nothing to do with her. He put all of his feelings into his relationship with Chelsea.

As Reffy walked up the stairs, she heard the boys being loud and playing poker. All of the regulars were there, including Racetrack and Jack.

"Ref, get over here, it's been a while since I won money off of ya." Racetrack said loudly as she reached the top of the stairs.

The newsie's looked at Racetrack, then at Jack. Reffy could feel the tension in the room, then remembered what Jack said. 'You can go back to the Lodging House tonight… But I don't want to talk to you.' The words remained in her head, so she turned down the offer.

She cleared her throat, "I don't think that's a good idea, Race." Reffy replied in a raspy voice. She noticed Jack looking at her, but they both quickly looked away.

"Well I think it's a good idea, so get your ass over here and just play." Racetrack said, obviously getting annoyed at the way Reffy couldn't get involved.

Reffy was at her bed and emptied the money from her pockets when she came across the letter she received a little while earlier. She held the thin pieces of paper in her hands and remembered the contents of the letter – One of her very best friends in Boston, Piper, had died from Black Lung. Even after Reffy's close encounter when she got sick and nearly died.

"REF, come on, get in on this game!" Racetrack yelled.

"I don't want to play, Race!" Reffy replied, but her voice squeaked at the end of her response. She put her hand to her mouth and coughed a few times, eventually catching her breath a few seconds later.

"Ey Reffy… What's wrong with your voice?" Bumlet's bravely asked. All of them were staring at her with concern, but no one wanted to speak up just incase Jack got angry.

"No shit, what is wrong with your voice? It was raspy like that the other night, too. You keep losing it." Mush said, obviously seeing a problem.

Reffy tried to respond, but had to clear her throat.

"Are you sick or something? I don't want to get sick." Blink said, but then was elbowed by Mush. "What the hell! I was just asking…"

Reffy turned her back to them and looked down at her letter. It hadn't hit her yet… Piper was gone.

"Ref, you gonna explain or what? Your voice was messed up last night too… Are you okay?" Racetrack asked, starting to get a little nervous.

"I'm fine." Reffy replied, her voice sounding weak.

"If you are trying to convince us you're okay that was a pathetic attempt to hide your messed up voice." Blink said jokingly, but no one laughed.

"Can we just get back to the game?" Jack asked, but not as loud as he hoped. The attention stayed on her.

Reffy just stared down at the letter. She was scared. Piper was gone, and she couldn't hide her experience from the boys because the illness took a toll on her health for the rest of her life. She couldn't keep the reason for her raspy voice a secret like she thought she could.

"What happened, Ref?" Racetrack asked again.

"She's obviously not going to answer you guys so ignore her, will ya!" Jack asked, annoyed that the boys stopped playing.

Reffy turned around slowly with the letter in her hand and her eyes towards the ground. She didn't want to seem weak around them, but she had changed since she was away, and her tears were impossible to hide for much longer.

"If there's something wrong with you then just tell us because ..."

"There's nothing wrong with me, okay!" Reffy attempted to yell. The room fell silent at the sight of tears falling down her cheeks. "I-I got sick in Boston. I couldn't breathe. I coughed…" She had to stop to recompose herself.

The boys stared with fear and concern. Even Jack, but Reffy didn't care to notice.

"…I coughed up blood, and I just couldn't stop." Reffy explained once she took a deep breath. "I thought I was gonna die, and I was so scared because I felt all by myself." She sniffled, then continued on. "The only people there for me were these girls I met at the mill who treated me like I was a sister to them, so I didn't feel so alone when they helped me."

"Reffy, it's okay…" Racetrack tried to say.

Reffy held up the letter in her hand. She blinked more tears away. "They wrote to me. They told me that Piper got sick too, except she didn't make it. Piper was one of my best friends in Boston and she's dead because she wasn't lucky enough to get out like I did. But now I'm not sure if it was such a good idea to come back here. Atleast THEY cared about me. Atleast I felt like I belonged. I told them all about my family in New York, YOU BOYS, and how I couldn't wait to get back to you," Reffy cried, her voice cracking. "But I don't know what I was thinking. There's nothing left for me anymore. Piper should have survived, not me!"

Racetrack got up to hug her, but Reffy backed away.

"No, Race! I don't deserve you to hug me, don't hug me." Reffy couldn't believe she was so hysterical infront of these boys who once thought she was tough, and unbreakable. She wiped the tears from her cheeks and cleared her throat once more. The newsies couldn't speak, they couldn't move, no one could do anything but watch in shock at the scene infront of them.

"So Jack," Reffy said, her voice painfully weak as she turned her attention towards him. He was still sitting down, but couldn't look at her. "I'll leave you alone. I'll find somewhere to go, but I want you to know that I AM greatful for all that you've done for me… And I'll always be. You're right, everything has changed. I don't have anymore friends, I don't deserve anyone to care about me, you hate me, you're thinking about marrying some girl I don't even know…"

Jack broke his silence and stood up. "Who told you that?" He asked loudly. He didn't want Reffy hearing that. He still cared about her, but was too stubborn to show it.

"It doesn't matter." Reffy replied, wiping another tear that rolled down her cheek. "Nothing matters anymore."

She folded up her letter from Boston and put it in her pocket. She realized the scene she had just made and had to get out of there. After glancing around the room at all the familiar faces, she quickly walked to the stairs and headed towards the front door. Reffy didn't even think about the words that just came out of her mouth. Everything was happening so fast, and she needed to think.

Back upstairs, the newsies looked at eachother with regret in their eyes. None of them had realized what Reffy was going through, and blamed themselves for not comforting the girl they loved like family.

Racetrack ran to follow her, but Jack grabbed his arm to stop him.

"I need to get her!" Racetrack yelled with anger and confusion as Jack pulled him back.

"No," Jack replied quietly. He grabbed his hat from his bed and put it on. "I do."

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	28. The Kiss

Jack ran out into the street and looked around. It was dark, and the air was wet with mist as the clouds grew thicker and threatened to rain. He looked to the left; Nothing. Then looked to the right, and saw someone off in the distance.

Without another thought, Jack ran faster towards her. His heart was beating a mile a minute, and all he wanted to do was hug her. He never saw Reffy cry before he started treating her like this. He didn't want to be the boy who made her cry.

Reffy was mentally kicking herself for being such a fool. Why did she do that? Why did she completely breakdown and show them how weak she really was? She looked so stupid infront of people who once respected her. She finally realized that she did lose Jack for good, and it hurt.

Reffy was ripped from her thoughts when two strong arms turned her around. On instinct, Reffy fought, but then saw the cowboy hat – It was Jack.

He immediately wrapped his arms around her body and held her as tight as he could, picking her up and nestling his face into the crook of her neck, knocking his hat to the ground. Reffy was startled at his sudden change of heart, and didn't know what to do.

"J-Jack…! What are you…? What's going on?" She stuttered, wrapping her arms around his neck and running her fingers through his hair.

"Oh God, Ref. I'm so sorry. I'm sorry." He whispered over and over again. She felt his hot breath on her neck and closed her eyes at the feeling of safety she had in his arms.

"No…" Reffy replied softly, stilling playing with his hair. "I'm the one who should be sorry, Jack. You were right the whole time. I was so stupid."

Jack finally put her down and held her face in his hands as she looked up at him. "I was so scared someone hurt you, or took you away from me… I thought you were gone forever. I never cared about someone so much in my life; I thought I was going crazy. The guys thought I was going soft, so I just stopped caring. I refused to believe you were back, Reffy. I treated you so bad. I'm sorry." Jack said quietly, looking right into her eyes and never looking away.

"Stop saying that," Reffy replied, pulling one of his hands off of her face and holding it tightly. "I'm sorry for doing that to you." Her voice was still slightly hoarse, and her eyes began to water again, but she held back her tears.

"You are the only person I can act like this around. I'm a completely different guy when I'm with you. I thought I'd never feel like this again…" Jack said honestly, leaning down and putting his forehead on hers.

"I'm back now, Jack." Reffy whispered. Her voice cracked as if she was trying to keep herself from crying. "Everything's going to be okay, right? Just like old times."

Jack didn't answer, he just looked at her. He never realized just how beautiful Reffy was until she came back. He looked down at her soft lips and caressed her cheek with his thumb.

Reffy could have collapsed if he wasn't holding her up. The butterflies in her stomach were stronger then she ever felt before. He lifted her further up until she was on the tips of her toes, and leaned in to kiss her.

Reffy felt his warm lips on hers and wrapped her arms lightly around his neck. Their lips felt perfect with eachother, and it practically took her breath away.

Then, Reffy realized what was going on. She pulled away and pushed him off of her.

"What's wrong with you!" He asked, furrowing his eyebrows with confusion, and his mouth slightly hanging open.

Reffy's breathing was fast. "…Chelsea." She replied sternly.

Jack closed his mouth quickly and looked away.

"…First Spot, then you?" Reffy asked him weakly. She didn't realize she asked outloud.

Jack's attention snapped back to Reffy.

"What did you just say?" He asked, anger rising in his voice.

Reffy shook her head. "Nothing, Jack. I'm going back… If that's okay with you..." She asked.

"Ofcourse." Jack replied, still feeling a bit uneasy.

"I… I just don't want to talk about this now. It's been a really long night."

Jack sighed and licked his lips. "Look, let's just pretend this…"

"- Never happened?" Reffy finished his sentence, looking up into his eyes as she walked past him. It was obvious she was angry, but she understood.

"Ref..."

"No, it's fine. Nothing happened, okay?" Reffy said as she picked up his hat and threw it to him, her voice was fake as she tried to sound okay with it.

Jack caught the hat, but couldn't reply as she continued walking down the street to the Lodging House.

Jack took a deep breath and exhaled, running his fingers through his hair and closing his eyes. His mind was racing. 'Chelsea…' He thought. 'How could Reffy make me forget about Chelsea?'

Jack couldn't think anymore tonight, so he started walking down the street. Reffy had already entered the front door of the building, leaving him to walk all by himself.

Please Review!


	29. Mischief

That morning, Reffy was inspired. She knew that what her and Jack did was wrong, and she knew it was going to cause some problems. None of that mattered to her right now, because last night meant that Jack forgave her, so she woke up with motivation she hadn't felt in months. Reffy was determined to make things better for herself, because she was back – and she was pissed.

As they all woke up that morning, Reffy did something stubborn and immature, but she loved every second of it. She threw all of Ruby's belongings away from her old bed onto the one Reffy was forced to use in the corner.

Ruby walked out of the bathroom and towards her bunk, where Reffy was lounging comfortably with a mischievous smirk on her face.

"What do you think you're doing?" Ruby asked rudely.

Reffy looked to either side of her, then put her hand to her heart. "Me?"

"Get off of my bed!"

"No, no, no… You must be confused, doll. This is MY bed. Your bed is over there." Reffy stated, pointing her finger to the bunk in the corner where all of Rubys' belongings sat.

Ruby stared at her stuff, then back at Reffy. A scowl was on her face, and it amused Reffy to see it.

"You ran away and JACK gave me this bed, so maybe you should follow his rules considering he is the leader around here." Ruby said confidently, but her hands were visibly shaking.

The newsies all stopped and watched the confrontation. Some watched uneasily, but most of them watched with amusement. It was good to see Reffy back to her normal self.

Racetrack joined the group surrounding them with a smirk on his face. Mush stood next to him and nudged him lightly.

"It's too bad Cowboy left early today, he would love this." Mush said quietly. Racetrack laughed to himself and leaned back on a bunk. All eyes were on the two girls.

"…Well the almighty leader you speak of just happens to be one of my dear, dear friends, and he wouldn't appreciate these accusations you are throwing at me about my bed." Reffy said, her face bright and the same mischievous look in her eyes.

"Friends? In your dreams, Reffy. Am I the only one who remembers that Jack absolutely despises you now?" Ruby asked, looking around at the other newsies and laughing. None of the newsies laughed with her, they were smarter than that.

Reffy just smiled politely, sitting up in the bed and leaning back on the headboard. "Well then I guess I must be dreaming, Ruby," Reffy smoothly replied. "Because me and Jack ARE friends." She smiled and shrugged her shoulders. "So don't you feel stupid or what?"

Some of the newsies snickered. Most of them were smiling to hear the news of the truths between the two friends, but Reffy never broke her stare with Ruby.

Ruby opened her mouth to speak, but closed it again. She obviously got caught off-guard with the news, and was left with no response.

"In that case, I suggest you get out of my space and keep your mouth shut." Reffy snapped before Ruby could think of a comeback.

Ruby looked around at the boys for help, but only saw the happy faces that were glad to see their girl back.

"I don't care if Jack likes you again, this is my bed and he gave it to me! I was JUST sleeping there!" Ruby yelled.

"Well, you left." Reffy answered simply, shrugging her shoulders and smirking at the boys.

"It's not like I went to Boston. I went to the bathroom!" Ruby snapped. Reffy rolled his eyes. The newsies laughed at Reffy's passive attitude towards Ruby's aggravation.

"Yah, but you left the bed AREA." Reffy stated.

"I've been sleeping there forever! This is my bed. So, Get up!"

"Well, actually sweetie, I've slept here much longer than you. Nice try." Reffy replied sweetly. Ruby scoffed, and her face began to turn red.

"Just GET OFF OF MY BED!" Ruby yelled, her sudden outburst startling everyone in the room.

"You left the bed area!" Reffy yelled in return, trying to hide the smile that was playing on her lips. The newsies were now biting their lips to stop from laughing out loud.

"I don't care – GET OFF!" Ruby argued.

"It's my bed!" Reffy replied.

"NO IT'S NOT, IT'S MINE!"

"It's mine."

"YOU STOLE IT FROM ME WHEN I WENT TO THE BATHROOM!"

"YOU LEFT THE BED AREA!" Reffy shouted.

The boys were now laughing loudly, holding onto eachother for support. Ruby was furious, but Reffy was amused.

"You're lucky Jack isn't here, he would put you in your place." Ruby sneered. The newsies looked at Reffy as that infamous smirk appeared on her lips.

"He already has." Reffy replied smoothly. She lifted her arm up, and pointed her finger towards the corner bed. "Now why don't you stop making a fool of yourself and learn YOUR place. Over there."

Ruby loudly stomped her foot on the ground. She turned around and stormed out of the room and down the stairs, pushing the boys out of the way as she did.

Reffy stood up and did a small curtsy for her performance.

The laughter erupted from the boys, drowning out the sound of Ruby stomping down the stairs. A few of them walked over and patted her on the shoulder, while some hugged her tightly, all of them welcoming her back. Reffy smiled warmly at her boys, and was glad to have them back. She stretched her arms in the air and walked towards Racetrack.

"Good to see you back, dollface." Racetrack said sincerely. Reffy looked him in his eyes and smiled.

They ran down the stairs to the distribution center, knowing they were all running a little late from the early morning entertainment, and got in line.

Reffy looked up at the warm sun and let out a sigh of relief. It was good to be back. For a moment, Reffy forgot about the kiss, forgot about Spot, and forgot about how awful it felt to be alone for so long. For the first time in a while, she was happy. She didn't want to worry about anything right now, because the sun was out and she had her best friend by her side. Besides, she got her bed back, what else could she ask for?

Reffy and Race sold their papers together down by the track. They were fortunate to have some good headlines, and sold them pretty quickly.

Racetrack decided to stay and place some bets, but Reffy grew antsy. She decided to go back to the Lodging House, wishing Race luck on his bets as she left.

She was still in a good mood from earlier that morning. After walking for some time, the Lodging House was in sight. It was early, and it was unlikely that anybody else would be done selling.

Reffy walked up the steps and saw Ruby standing at the window.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Reffy asked, causing Ruby to jump.

Ruby glared at Reffy once she turned around. "I'm waiting for my boyfriend to come get me. You know, the one I caught you kissing the other day, remember?" Ruby said, crossing her arms over her chest.

Reffy put her fingers to her chin to think, and then smiled. "Oh, right, THAT one." She said, nodding her head as if she suddenly remembered. Rubys' eyes narrowed.

"I hate you." She spat.

Reffy looked at her innocently. "But I absolutely adore YOU, Ruby." She replied with her eyebrows raised and her lip slightly pouted.

"You should've stayed in Boston where you belong. I said it before and I'll say it again – nobody missed you. Nobody." Ruby said as a smile appeared on her face.

Reffy smiled back. "If it makes you feel better to say it, then go ahead. Keep telling yourself that. We both know the truth, so what you say doesn't mean shit to me."

Ruby rolled her eyes. "Please, Reffy! What we both know is that you were jealous of me when I first came here! I took away Racetrack, I took away Spot, and Jack stopped revolving his world around you! You left because you wanted all the attention, but I got it ALL! You are so jealous!" Ruby replied, her voice becoming louder with every word.

Reffy got into Ruby's face. She was still a bit smaller than Ruby, but her stare intimidating anybody, and it shut her up. Ruby tried to stay strong, but Reffy's intense glare was too much, so Ruby looked away.

"Know what, Ruby?" Reffy said calmly, still glaring into her eyes. "I could soak you AGAIN, and not think anything of it, but I just realized something…" Reffy turned around and walked a few steps away, then turned once again to face Ruby. "You are nothing to me. You are just a spec of dust, and I could care less about what you think."

"WHAT! You think that -" Ruby started to yell, but Reffy put up her hand to stop her.

"Oh my god, can't you just SHUT UP? Learn when to keep your mouth shut, because I'm tired of it. You are NOTHING to me, understand? I don't care what you have to say, so shut up!" Reffy replied, obviously annoyed. She was sick of Ruby and her attitude.

"You shouldn't have come back." Ruby said quickly.

Reffy rolled her eyes. "You don't even belong here in the first place." She replied, looking at Ruby in pity before she turned around.

Reffy walked downstairs, wrapping her arms around her waist and letting out a heavy sigh. As she hit the last step, she looked up and saw Kloppman reading the newspaper at his desk.

"Hey there, Kloppy."

Kloppman looked up from his reading. "My, my, my… Look at that pout on your face. I haven't seen a pout on your face in years."

"Nah, I'm good." Reffy responded, putting a small smile on her face. She walked over to his desk and caught a glance at the morning headlines she was selling earlier.

"…You know, they'd kill me if I said this but… The boys sure did miss you while you were gone." Kloppman said sincerely, looking up to see her reaction.

Reffy smiled politely. "Thanks for trying to make me feel better, Klopp. This is just a little more complicated than I thought it was going to be…"

Kloppman silently nodded as if he understood. Then, his head quickly turned to the door as a man in a suit entered. Reffy followed his gaze.

"Can I help you?" Kloppman asked the man.

"Perhaps you can," he replied politely. "I'm looking for somebody." He was tall and had a friendly smile, but his eyes stood out in Reffy's mind. They were cold. They were evil… They were familiar.

Kloppman folded up his paper and glanced over to Reffy. She was too busy staring at the man, trying to figure out who he reminded her of… She didn't like him.

"Who is it you are looking for exactly?" Kloppman asked.

The man felt uncomfortable under Reffy's stare, but he tried to ignore her and kept a hard expression on his face.

"I'm looking for my daughter," The man answered. "My name is Mr. Banks, and my daughters name is Ruby."

Reffy felt almost amused at the event unfolding infront of her. Finally Ruby was getting what was coming to her. The timing was perfect!

"Ruby?" Kloppman asked, pretending not to know the name. "There is no Ruby living in this building, sir."

Reffy quickly looked at Kloppman. Then she realized that he was just doing his job. Most of the newsies were runaways, and he protected them. At the sound of her name, Ruby slowly came down the first couple of steps and took a peek downstairs. Reffy glanced over at Ruby and saw the fear in her eyes as she covered her mouth in shock.

"Do you know a girl named Ruby? Where I'd be able to find her?" Mr. Banks asked Reffy. She quickly looked back at Ruby's father and bit her lip.

This was perfect! With one word she would be gone. Pointing in one direction could get Ruby out of her life for good… Then why was she hesitating? Reffy looked into Mr. Banks eyes and shivered. She didn't like him. He looked mean, and his glare terrified her. No one deserved to be around this man... Not even the girl she hated the most.

"Wrong place, Mister." Reffy replied casually, placing one hand on her hip and the other hand up to her face to examine her nails. "I'm the only girl living in this place. Check the mills or something, because most girls aren't cut out for this job." She explained, looking up into his eyes one last time. Ruby's jaw dropped in shock from where she was standing.

Mr. Banks stared at her for a moment before nodding a 'thank you' to Kloppman and walking back out onto the streets.

Kloppman let out a chuckle, and Reffy shook her head.

"I guess there is a sensitive side you grew in Boston." He said amusingly.

Reffy rolled her eyes. "Yeah, it's friggin great, isn't it?" She replied sarcastically.

Ruby walked down a couple more steps and stared at Reffy.

"Why'd you do that?" Ruby asked quietly.

After a moment, Reffy shrugged her shoulders. "To tell ya the truth sweetie, I have NO idea…"

Ruby looked down at the railing.

"… I guess I just… I could tell he was an asshole, I know when I don't like someone the second I see them." Reffy explained, still a little confused as to why she did it. Reffy had her back to Kloppmans' desk and propped her elbows onto it.

Ruby looked at Reffy and tried to smile. "Thank you, Reffy."

She knew Ruby meant it. "No need to thank me… You're a newsie. It doesn't matter how I feel about you, I can't send a newsie back to something she ran away from." Reffy explained honestly.

Ruby smiled at Reffy one last time before walking up the stairs again. This was something Reffy thought she'd never see happen – her helping out Ruby, especially after they just had another fight.

Reffy reached into her pocket and pulled out a cigarette. She turned around, and Kloppman already had a match lit for her. Reffy laughed out loud and lit her cigarette.

"Some things have changed but you're still the same Reffy I know." Kloppman said with a chuckle.

Reffy took a drag from her cigarette and blew the smoke towards the door. "Kloppman, you have no idea." She shook her head.

A lot of things have changed. Butterflies were in her stomach as she thought about Jack. They couldn't avoid eachother forever, and they both knew it. Tonight they were going to face eachother. Tonight something big was going to happen.

……… Thanks for the reviews! You all don't know how much your reviews mean to me, it's what got me to finally finish this in the first place. Please keep reviewing, I really appreciate it – more than you'll ever know ) … This will be finished pretty soon!


	30. A Challenge

Reffy woke up and groaned as Kloppman went through the room, yelling his usual wake-up call. She refused to open her eyes, hoping he would just go away.

"Reffy! REFFY! Wake up! Those papers aren't gonna sell themselves – Get up!" Kloppman said loudly, walking to her bed and pulling at the blankets.

"I'm up." Reffy mumbled, pulling the blankets to her chin.

"Reffy!" He yelled again.

"I'M UP! I'm up, I'm uppp…" Reffy whined. She opened her eyes and stretched her arms over her head. A small smile appeared on her lips when she realized she was in her old bed.

"Morning, sunshine." Racetrack said happily as he stood over Reffy's bed, offering his hand. She took it and he lifted her up.

"Morning, Race." She replied, walking into the bathroom to get ready.

Reffy put on her grey hat and looked at herself in the mirror. She wore her usual outfit, a fitted, white, button-up shirt and grey pants that weren't too loose for her, which she was thankful for. She noticed how long her hair was getting and twisted sections of it with her finger. It was down to her mid-back now.

Reffy noticed someone over her shoulder. She looked in the mirror and saw Jack talking to Skittery. She turned around to leave, but caught Jacks' eye. They looked at eachother for a few seconds, but Skittery didn't notice and continued telling Jack his story about his girl-of-the-week.

Jack just nodded his head to Reffy, unable to keep his eyes off of her. The tension was more than she could handle, so she clasped her hands behind her back and walked off, feeling his eyes on her as she left.

The newsies were in line when Jack joined them. Reffy was standing with Racetrack with her arm propped up on his shoulder. Instead of jumping to the front of the line, Jack stood near the ramp and discussed a few things with some of the boys. Once they were finished, Jack turned around and walked off, ignoring the questioning looks Reffy and the boys were giving.

"Where does he think he's going?" Mush asked.

Kid Blink, who was just speaking to Jack, jumped up on the ramp next to him. "He's not selling today," Blink answered. "He said he had to go somewhere. It sounded important."

"Ya think everything's okay? He was acting weird this morning." Specs asked, crossing his arms and looking at the group.

Everyone just shrugged as the line moved towards the window. Reffy removed her arm from Racetrack's shoulder and crossed it over her stomach.

"What's on your mind, Ref?" Racetrack asked her quietly.

Reffy looked at him like he was crazy for asking.

"Don't give me that look; I know when something is going on." He stated, lighting his cigar.

Reffy decided not to fight with him. "How do you always know?" She asked curiously.

Racetrack smiled. "When you think too much you get this confused look on your face." He replied jokingly.

Reffy slapped his shoulder as he walked up to the window for his papers. Reffy did the same, and they both walked down the steps.

"What's the problem, huh?" Racetrack asked, beginning to get concerned.

"There's no problem, don't worry about it." She assured him. "It's just Jack."

He stopped walking and took the cigar out of his mouth. "I thought you two were good now."

"We are! He apologized, and then I apologized…"

"Then what's eating ya?" Racetrack asked, starting to get confused.

Reffy shifted her papers to one of her arms and ran her fingers through her hair.

"Something happened, Racetrack." Reffy said nervously. Her voice was just above a whisper.

Race moved closer to her once he saw the look on her face. "What did he do to you?" He asked angrily.

Reffy covered his mouth to keep him quiet. She pulled him to the other side of the gates and off to the side. She sat on the curb and put down her papers. Racetrack did the same and turned to her.

"I don't know how I'm going to say this, so I'm just gonna say it…"

"Just say it!" Racetrack exclaimed.

"Jack kissed me." She blurted out. The words shocked her as she said them outloud. It finally hit her – Jack Kelly kissed her.

Racetrack just stared at her. He didn't react, just stayed the same as he studied her face.

"No he didn't." Racetrack finally replied, looking away and taking a puff of his cigar.

"He did."

"Bullshit."

"He did." Reffy repeated.

Racetrack looked at her again and realized she wasn't joking.

A small smirk appeared on his lips. "Jack kissed you." He repeated.

"Yea."

The smirk turned into a smile. "Jack did."

"Yea." Reffy said, biting her lip from laughing at the situation.

Racetrack couldn't take it. He burst out into laughter, holding onto his stomach. Reffy giggled, ignoring the stares from the other newsies.

Race tried catching his breath. "Are. You. . . Serious!" He asked in-between his gasps for air.

Reffy hugged her knees and ducked down her head. Racetrack put his arms around her and let Reffy hide her head on his shoulder. She felt him laughing, and wrapped her arms around his neck, digging her head deeper into hiding.

Still chuckling, Racetrack rubbed her back. "You gonna be able to tell me what happened?" He asked amusingly.

Reffy nodded. She picked her head up and let out a long sigh. Racetrack kept one arm around her shoulder, and let Reffy hold his other hand as she told her story. She told him about the apologies and the kiss. He nodded understandingly when she explained why she pulled away, and squeezed her hand in support as she talked about Chelsea.

"…Then he told me to pretend it never happened. So… I told him it didn't happen and walked away."

"And this happened two nights ago?" Racetrack asked.

"Yea."

"And… You haven't talked to him since?"

"Nope." Reffy answered. "I mean, I saw him this morning and he just nodded at me… He wasn't even around yesterday, so I didn't see him."

"And… Did you like it?"

Reffy was taken aback, not expecting him to ask that.

"That's not the problem, Racetrack! He loves that girl, he wants to be with her, he.."

"Kissed YOU." Racetrack finished her sentence.

"It doesn't matter. Spot did the same thing, remember?"

"Reffy," Racetrack said calmly, ignoring her last comment. "Did you like it?" He asked again.

Reffy looked down at her hand that Race was holding. She loved it when Jack kissed her. It wasn't hard and fast like Spot kissed her, it was soft and passionate. Jack was strong, and he intimidated everyone around him, but his kiss was gentle.

"… I can't." Reffy answered weakly, still looking down.

"I'm not asking if you can or not, Ref! I'm asking if you did." Racetrack said patiently.

Reffy looked up into his eyes and gave him a weak smile. "I did, Racetrack," She replied. "I liked it… Is that crazy?"

"Nah, it's not crazy at all." Race said, rubbing her back before he stood up. "Let's sell these, a'right? You're coming with me." He pulled Reffy up, and they grabbed their papers.

Reffy leaned over and kissed Racetrack's cheek as they started walking.

"Thanks." Reffy said, thankful that Racetrack saw through her reputation and knew the girl she hid behind her mask.

"Just doin my job, love." Racetrack replied. He smiled and threw Reffy a cigarette.

They spent the day selling on the streets, not staying at one specific location. They each had their own charm that got the papers sold. Everyone was at Tibby's for lunch, except for Jack. Reffy, Racetrack, Kid Blink, Mush, Crutchy, and Skittery sat at a table together, while some of the other newsies pulled up chairs to join them.

Ruby pulled up a chair across from Reffy. The boys turned their attention to Reffy for a reaction, but they didn't get one. Ruby gave Reffy a small smile before she joined a conversation between Skittery, Itey, and Bumlets. Reffy smirked at the attention that was now centered on her, and casually took a sip of her water.

Racetrack just shuffled his cards and smiled. Reffy already told him what happened yesterday between her and Ruby. Racetrack told her she was getting soft, so Reffy pushed him into a fruit cart. He got her back by throwing her over his shoulder and embarrassing her as they walked into Tibby's.

"Everyone's going to Medda's tonight, right?" Blink asked the newsies around the table. They all nodded.

"You too, Ref? Medda keeps asking about you." Crutchy told her with a smile on his face.

Reffy put down her glass of water and smiled. "Ofcourse I'm going."

After a while they headed back to the Lodging House to get ready. Ruby mentioned that Spot and a lot of his boys were coming to Manhattan for the night, including a few boys from Harlem.

Although there was a buzz of excitement in the air, Jack wasn't there yet. It was unusual for him to miss a night at Medda's, especially when other boroughs were going to be there. Jack told Blink he would be there, so Reffy kept glancing at the stairs waiting for him to show up.

"Should we be worried that Jack isn't here?" Ruby asked Blink. He was playing poker with the other boys and shook his head.

"He said he won't be back till later tonight." Blink replied as he picked up his cards.

Reffy was busy pinning her sheets to the line out the window. She had decided to clean them while they waited for night to fall. The boys gave her weird looks at first, but she mumbled something about 'doing it a lot in Boston' and they understood.

The poker games got intense, but it was either Reffy or Race who kept winning. An argument began when Skittery accused them of cheating, so no one noticed the group of boys who were standing at the stairs.

"Hey Hey Heyy… Calm down!" Spot Conlon ordered loudly, causing all of them to stop and look over.

"Heya Spot." Racetrack said, gathering his money from the table.

Skittery had a scowl on his face as Racetrack split the money, giving Reffy her share.

"You doing a'right?" Racetrack asked quietly as he followed Reffy to her bed.

"Yea, I'm good." Reffy replied, stashing her money away. Spot and his boys were talking with the rest of the newsies. Ruby was attached to Spot's side, as usual.

Everyone began filing out of the room and down the stairs.

"You coming or what?" Racetrack asked, walking with everyone else.

"I'll catch up – my sheets are outside." Reffy replied. She saw Spot looking at her, so she turned quickly and walked to the window.

"Spot, come on." Ruby said, tugging at his arm to follow her down the stairs.

"Go without me." He replied, pulling his arm away from her. Reffy heard him and tried to keep her hands from shaking as she opened the window.

Ruby glanced at where Reffy was standing, then back at Spot. "But you're gonna be late and…"

"I'll be there in a minute!" Spot said impatiently, turning away from Ruby.

"But Spot…"

"GO, RUBY." Spot said sternly. The harshness in his voice startled Reffy and caused her to turn around.

Ruby scoffed and stormed down the stairs, leaving Spot and Reffy alone in the bunkroom.

Spot slowly walked over to Reffy, his cold blue eyes turned soft. He never broke contact with her brown eyes, and that same nervous feeling she felt in Brooklyn came back to her stomach.

"Can I help you, Spot?" Reffy asked casually as she turned her back on him to continue.

He smirked and began to approach the window she was standing at. "I don't know, can ya?" Spot asked suggestively.

Reffy pulled in the last of her things and closed the window. "On second thought, forget I asked, I don't feel like helping you." She teased, turning around and catching the expression on his face. He was confused, but had a playful grin on his lips.

Reffy and Spot stared at eachother for a moment, almost daring the other one to look away first. Neither of them did. Those damn butterflies in Reffy's stomach wouldn't go away, but she showed no sign of being nervous.

"You're different, Reffy. You know that, right?" Spot asked, breaking the silence that engulfed the room around them.

Reffy slowly raised her eyebrows. "What are you talking about, Conlon?" She asked, putting her hand on her hip, knowing that look in his eyes.

"You pull away when I kiss you," Spot replied slowly. He was now a few feet away from her, but was moving closer. "You won't give in, no matter how much I know you want to…"

"Jesus, Spot, could you be more stuck up?" Reffy asked, hoping he wouldn't notice her blushing. He noticed.

"…You're not scared of me. You've never been." Spot continued. Admiration filled his eyes as he came closer, but Reffy stood her ground, refusing to give him what he wanted.

"I don't care about your charm, or your reputation. Being in charge of Brooklyn gives you my respect, my friendship, my loyalty – but not my fear. I know my place, Spot. I've never been intimidated by you or any leader from the Battery to the Bronx, and you know that. You've always known that." Reffy stated confidently. Her eyes were now challenging the Brooklyn leader as he stopped a few inches infront of her.

"That's why you're different than the other girls I know," Spot replied smoothly, a smirk at the corner of his lips. "That's why you're so intriguing to me, sweetface. I knew you were beautiful before you left for Boston, but there's one thing about you I never noticed until you came back..."

"And what's that?" Reffy asked coolly.

"I never saw that fire inside you that I see now." Spot said. He lowered his voice a bit more, "You're a challenge to me, Reffy." His face was inches from hers as he admitted it. She was forbidden fruit. A girl he couldn't have.

Reffy still refused to look away from him as she kept the same confident glare in her eyes. She was strong and held her ground, showing no reaction to his words.

Spot slowly moved his face closer, but Reffy didn't move. Instead of kissing her, he moved his lips to her ear as his breath sent shivers through her body.

"I never back down from a challenge." Spot whispered huskily, allowing his mouth to linger by her ear for a moment longer.

Reffy closed her eyes as he did, and restrained herself from reacting – whether it was to kiss him, or slap him. His comment had shocked her, making her angry and excited at the same time.

Composing herself, Reffy opened her eyes before he could see that she had closed them. The look of shock he had caused quickly disappeared as he moved his face a few inches back to look at her. He was studying her eyes closely, hoping to see a sign of weakness in her confident attitude.

"Are you threatening me, Spot Conlon?" Reffy asked smoothly, with a touch of arrogance. Spot didn't answer, he just stared at Reffy. He felt determined to overpower her, but it wasn't that easy.

Reffy had never seen such an intense look in his eyes, and it almost frightened her. Still, she remained fearless and stared at him daringly. The look on her face remained fierce, but relaxed.

He couldn't believe the authority she had over him at that moment. Spot had respected Reffy since he first met her. She was short, but feared by many. She wasn't a leader, but had the respect of one. She looked innocent, but was a thief who had a definite reason behind her name.

"You're really pretty when you get angry." Spot said seductively as he caressed her cheek with his thumb.

Reffy shook her head and moved away, her back now against the window.

"I can see it in your eyes," Spot started, practically pressing up against her. "I know you liked it when I kissed you."

Reffy's pride wouldn't let her look away from his stare. "Maybe you should go." She said, praying her voice didn't sound shaky.

"Something is stopping you, Reffy. Something's on your mind. Why don't you just give in and I can make you feel better…" He ran his fingers through her hair, and put his other hand on her hip.

"What the hell are you doing, Spot?" A familiar voice came from the other end of the room.

Spot turned around. "Jacky-boy… Where have you been all day, huh?" He asked, trying to act casual. Reffy felt her heart beat faster as she looked at Jack. He was angry, and she couldn't find the strength to move away from the window.

"Go to Medda's, Spot. We'll be there soon." Jack said, trying to control himself.

Spot saw the anger in his eyes and nodded. Spot wasn't scared of Jack, but they had a certain respect for eachother. Although he wasn't scared of him, he knew not to mess with him either.

Spot glanced back at Reffy, then walked past Jack and down the stairs.

Jack looked at Reffy and his anger subsided. "Did he hurt you?" He asked gently.

Reffy shook her head, and looked down at the floor. Jack wanted to talk to her, but he needed to check up on the newsies at Medda's.

"You gonna tell me what he did?" Jack asked.

Reffy shook her head again. Why did he have this sudden power over her? Nothing happened! They both agreed that nothing happened that night. She looked up and tried to act normal.

"He didn't do anything, Jack." Reffy replied, walking across the room to where he was standing. What she said next put a frown on Jack's face. "Nothing happened."

Those two words left her mouth smoothly, but she was shaking on the inside. Jack sighed and nodded to the stairs.

"Let's go to Medda's." He said.

Reffy glanced up at him as she walked by. It was impossible to pretend nothing happened.

They both made their way down the stairs in silence. Reffy crossed her arms as they walked down the dark street. She had no idea that tonight would be the night that changed everything.

……….. I have the next chapter already written! It's a very important chapter in the story - I'll post it after some reviews. Thanks to all who reviewed last chapter, it means the world to me. Feel free to let me know what you think - my e-mail and screen name is in my info – don't be shy!


	31. Finally!

Reffy hated walking next to Jack. It was silent, and neither of them wanted to be the first to speak. They were a few streets away from Medda's. Reffy couldn't take it anymore… She let out an aggravated sigh and stopped walking.

"I can't do this, Jack. I can't, I'm sorry, I can't." Reffy blurted out. Jack turned to her.

"Listen, Ref…"

"No shit, I know, it never happened! But I can't snap my fingers and erase it, a'right? I'm trying, I really am, but I'm not like you!" Reffy yelled, getting aggrivated. "Why do you haveto be just like him, huh? You just HAD to ruin it and be like Spot!" Her voice cracked, but she wouldn't let herself cry.

Jack looked offended. "How am I just like Spot? Spot NEVER cared as much as I do, how the hell am I like him!" He yelled.

Her eyes stung, but she bit back her tears. "Spot actually wanted to see me when I came back! He kissed me, but I stopped him just like I stopped you! Then he did it again but Ruby saw us."

"Spot touched you! That piece of shit, I'll kill him – he's DEAD." Jack yelled furiously, turning around and storming down the street.

"YOU'RE THE SAME WAY SPOT IS, JACK!" Reffy screamed as a tear escaped and rolled down her cheek.

Jack stopped dead in his tracks. Reffy sniffled, her body was shaking and she wouldn't chase after him. Jack turned around and put his hand to his chest.

"You actually think I'm the same as Spot?" He asked, still furious but lowering his voice a bit.

Reffy tried to stop herself from crying, but she couldn't. She hated herself for being weak. She couldn't hold her tears back anymore.

"What makes guys like y-you think it's okay to do that? Just kiss a girl like it's nothing, and make her feel special just to walk away and, and… Pretend like it didn't happen. I mean, especially when you have a god damn girlfriend! One that you… One that you love." Reffy cried. Jack looked hurt as he walked back to where she was standing.

"Reffy… You know I care about you, and I'm sorr…"

"No, you know what?" Reffy interrupted him, roughly wiping the tears from her cheeks. "It doesn't matter. I can't even care about you like I used to. It's impossible – it's ruined."

Jack had his jaw slightly open, but Reffy wouldn't let him answer and kept talking.

"I mean, how the hell can I even talk to you now! How can I turn to you if I have a problem with some dirtbag guy who messes with me if… If you're just fuckin' like him! How the hell can you say you're different, Jack!"

"Reffy, I…"

"No. You don't haveto pretend this is bothering you, because you have Chelsea and I know you're happy with her! God, I can't believe I let this happen." Reffy cried to herself, not listening to Jack. "There's Spot and Ruby… You and Chelsea…"

Jack suddenly grabbed both of her wrists and pulled her close. She stopped talking and let out a gasp. His touch made her whole body shiver.

"There's something I want to tell you, Reffy."

She felt her bottom lip quiver. "Wanna tell me something?" Her voice was just above a whisper. "…Just tell me why nobody wants me! Tell me why." Reffy demanded helplessly, looking up at Jack with a look that broke his heart.

"That's not true." Jack replied softly. Reffy shook her head.

"Spot doesn't want me. You don't want me. ."

"I broke up with Chelsea!" Jack yelled, getting Reffy's full attention. She stopped and felt her body go numb. "I broke up with her, Reffy. It's over. I don't want to be with her." She stopped fighting his grasp, but he didn't let go.

"You d-don't?" Reffy stuttered. "Why did you do that?" Her voice went down to a whisper.

Jack smiled for the first time that night. "Well, there's this one girl that I know… She's a brat, and can't stay out of trouble for the life of her… Even spent some time in that Refuge a while back."

A smile crept on Reffy's face as the words came out of his mouth.

Jack's voice became soft as he continued. "She ran away one night, and I tried to forget her… But it's impossible for me to forget her. She's beautiful, can actually put me in my place, and she's tough. This girl is amazing, but sometimes when I see her cry… I know that she needs me to wipe away her tears… But sometimes she has too much pride to let me help her." Jack let go of her wrists and cupped her face with his hands, wiping her cheeks with his thumbs.

Reffy let out a small laugh. "She sounds like a handful."

Jack shook his head. "Nah… I can handle her. She's not as tough as she thinks." He teased with a smirk.

Reffy opened her mouth to protest, but before she could say another word, Jack leaned down and pressed his lips against hers. Reffy didn't fight him this time… She just let him kiss her with an urgency that made her pulse race and knees tremble.

He was gentle, but wrapped his strong arms firmly around her waist. Reffy ached for more as his warm lips captivated her own. She tangled her fingers in his hair and pulled him closer.

Jack broke away from her slowly and imprisoned her in his arms, content with just feeling her pressed against him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and smiled to herself.

"Did you ever see this happening between the two of us, Cowboy?" Reffy whispered, her breath caressing his ear as he held her tightly.

Jack smiled and set her down on the ground. She was on the tips of her toes and held onto the front of his shirt.

"I don't know, but I guess it was always meant to happen, ya know?" Jack replied breathlessly as his lips softly grazed her forehead.

"I know, but… What took you so long?" Reffy asked with a smile on her lips, playfully nudging at his chest.

Jack leaned down and attacked her lips with his. He lifted her over his shoulder, causing Reffy to shriek loudly. Jack just smirked as he walked down the empty street.

"Jack! What are you doing!" Reffy yelled, pounding his back with her fists.

"Going to Medda's." Jack replied casually, smiling to himself.

"What about Spot!"

"I'm gonna show him that you're MY girl and nobody is allowed to touch you but ME." Jack said, finally putting her down and wrapping his arm securely around her waist.

Reffy raised her eyebrows and looked up at Jack as they walked. "Your girl, huh?"

"Yah, you got a problem with that!" Jack threatened jokingly.

Reffy shook her head and smirked. "You know, I don't think I'm gonna fight you on that one."

Hegasped in surprise. "I think we just had our first agreement!"Jack exclaimed sarcastically.

Reffy looked up at him excitedly. "I know, we're not fighting!" She exaggerated. Jack rolled his eyes playfully. He gave Reffy another quick peck on the lips, holding back his craving for more as they walked to Irving Hall. Everything was finally coming together, but now they had to face the newsies.

. . . . . A few more chapters to go… A part of me doesn't want this to be over! I want to thank every single one of you who reviewed! Some names I know, and some are new reviewers. Thanks for everything. The next few updates should be quick, but review to make me write faster!


	32. Reffy's Growing Up

Jack grabbed a hold of Reffy's shaking hand as they entered Irving Hall.

"So, um… Maybe we should just… We should just…" Reffy stammered as they walked into the crowded theatre.

"Stop being nervous!" Jack exclaimed, squeezing her hand. "It'll be funny to see their faces."

Reffy let out a nervous laugh as they approached three tables towards the front the group usually took up. Everyone already started drinking, and there were poker games on every table. It was the middle of Medda's act, so everyone was up and mingling.

The first person Reffy saw was Spot. He was sitting at one of the crowded tables with Ruby at his side. Racetrack, with his trademark cigar in his mouth, was sitting at another table along with many of their friends.

"Look who finally showed up!" Blink yelled from his seat next to Racetrack.

Reffy and Jack were making their way through the crowd. The butterflies in Reffy's stomach were making her hands shake even harder.

"Heya fella's!" Jack yelled happily to the tables of newsies. They greeted Jack and Reffy as they walked up to them. None of them seemed to notice the couple holding hands.

Racetrack, on the other hand, noticed the look on Reffy's face. Putting down his cards, he stood up from his chair. Before he could say another word, Mush spoke up.

"Wait a minute here, what's this!"

Attention immediately turned to what Mush was looking at.

"What do you think it is?" Jack asked, his smile growing. Reffy bit her lip to hide the nervous smile on her face.

"Am I seeing things or are you two holding hands?" Crutchy announced, grabbing his crutch and walking towards them.

"Cowboy? And Reffy? What's happening here?" Skittery asked, confusion written all over his face.

Jack waved his free hand in the air to quiet down the questioning. He looked down at Reffy, then back to the crowd. "Nah, Crutchy. You ain't seeing things. Just holding my new girls hand, there a problem with that?" He asked his friend, then let go of Reffy's hand and wrapped his arm around her waist. That was when all hell broke loose.

Reffy was use to being the center of attention, but this was an exception. All eyes were on the two of them.

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Racetrack exclaimed in disbelief.

Reffy laughed at her friend. "Yup, leave it to Race to make the moment romantic." She pointed out. The group broke the silence and started laughing and congratulating the new couple. Catcalls could be heard through out the whole theatre from those who heard the news.

"Finally! I told you they'd get together, I told you!" Blink exclaimed, ripping Reffy from Jack's arm and giving her a hug.

"Our little Reffy's growing up, boys." Mush announced, getting a few laughs from the crowd and punching Jack in the arm.

"Wait!" A high pitched voice screamed from one of the tables. Reffy and Jack turned to face the table to see Ruby standing up. "You and.. and.. HER!" Ruby asked Jack in disgust.

Reffy scoffed. "Ok, NOW I remember why I hate you." She said loudly and rolled her eyes. Ruby sat back down and crossed her arms.

"Best lookin girl in all five boroughs, Cowboy. Figures you'd be the one to crack her." Skittery laughed. Reffy tried to hit him, but was held back when Jack wrapped both his arms around her waist.

"I like em feisty, boys, what can I say?" Jack joked as he held the struggling girl tightly to his chest. The crowd laughed and more catcalls were heard.

Reffy stopped struggling from his grip, and didn't react to the joke. In fact, she didn't hear the catcalls and shouts anymore. She was too busy biting her own lip to keep from erupting in laughter. Racetrack remained in the same position from his first comment, staring at Jack with his mouth wide open.

"Race," Reffy stated, unable to keep an amused smile off of her face. "Racetrack, are you okay?"

Racetrack closed his mouth and looked at his best friend. He saw the blush in her cheeks and the light in her eyes. It was a glimmer he never saw before, not the usually look her brown eyes held. Finally getting over the initial shock, Racetrack noticed the attention was now on him.

Reffy stifled another laugh as Racetrack eyed the strong arms wrapped around her waist. He looked up at Jack's goofy smile and knew he was good for her, but Race didn't expect this to happen.

"Race…?" Reffy broke his train of thought, and he looked at her. Catching the sparkle in her eyes reminded Racetrack that nothing could come between their friendship. It was time to play his role of being Reffy's best friend, and protect her.

He shot his gaze back to Jack and tried to keep from smiling. "You break her heart – I kill ya. Got it pretty boy?" Racetrack warned, smirking when the crowd once again erupted with laughter.

Reffy released herself from Jack's hold and approached Racetrack, laughing happily. "Jesus, Race," She smiled and embraced him tightly. "You know, you've always been the only man in my life." Reffy whispered in his ear. "Just 'cause Jack's my boyfriend doesn't mean you'll stop being my favorite."

Racetrack chuckled as Reffy pulled away and winked playfully at him. Jack suddenly appeared behind Reffy and slung his arm around her shoulder.

"So how about it, Race?" Jack asked. "Ya think you could share her?"

Racetrack put his cigar back in his mouth. After a moment of thinking, he shrugged his shoulders. "A'right Cowboy, but I get her on weekends."

The newsies laughed and shouted as Jack slung his other arm around Racetrack, pulling both of them close. Reffy put her hand to her face as it burned red. Jack kissed her cheek quickly before he slid his arm off her shoulder and disappeared with Racetrack to the bar for drinks.

Reffy took a deep breath and smiled at the people talking to her. Looking around the room, she noticed Spot. He stood up from his chair and began to make his way over to her. Thinking fast, Reffy sat down beside Skittery and began talking to him.

She did not want to face Spot Conlon.

"So Reffy, you're being pretty damn quiet." Skittery commented, putting down his drink to talk to her.

"Just overwhelmed I guess." Reffy shrugged, the corner of her lips turning into a smirk.

"You and Jack, huh?" He asked. "I saw it coming, but I don't think anybody saw it happening so soon."

Reffy laughed. "I don't think we saw it happening so soon either." She replied, looking over at the bar where Jack was standing with Racetrack.

"I sure as hell didn't." Someone added from behind her.

The person startled Reffy. She quickly turned around to see Spot staring down at her.

"Heya Spot." Skittery greeted, picking up his drink again and taking a sip.

"Skittery." Spot greeted, never taking his eyes off of Reffy.

"Do you need something?" Reffy asked him, raising her eyebrows.

"I need you to step outside with me real quick." Spot replied, pulling out her chair. Reffy looked back at the bar to see Jack laughing with a couple of his friends. "I don't think Jack would mind." Spot leaned down and said quietly in her ear.

"Not outside," Reffy said as she stood up. "The lobby."

Spot nodded his head and led Reffy out towards the lobby. Only a few people were out there, and it was fairly quiet. Reffy leaned up against the railing of the staircase and crossed her arms.

"When the hell did this happen?" Spot asked fiercely.

Reffy was looking down at her feet. Spot put his finger under her chin and lifted her head up.

"On the way here." Reffy stated, slapping his hand away. "Why do you even care?"

"We both know how Jack is," Spot began, lowering his voice so no one could hear. "You've seen the way he treats his girlfriends! What the hell makes you think you're any different?"

Reffy was shocked that he was acting like this. "Hello, Spot! Because I AM different! He actually cares about me, and you know that!"

"Did you forget that Jack has a kid? Huh? I'm sure he cared about that girl before he kicked her to the curb when he found out she was pregnant!" Spot argued.

Her jaw dropped. How could she have forgotten about Gracie? The newsie she met in Boston, who claimed Jack was the father of her child.

"You know Jack just as much as I do, Ref. Don't be stupid." Spot sneered. Reffy looked up at Spot and shivered from his icy stare.

"Know what, Conlon?" Reffy started. "I don't care about any of that. I deserve to be happy – and I don't give a fuck how hard you try to prevent that from happening. Just leave me alone, ok? Leave. Me. ALONE."

Reffy pushed past Spot and entered the theatre again, where the second act was starting. Jack waved her over to where he was and pulled her down on his lap.

"Where were you?" He whispered in her ear as the lights went down.

"Spot wanted to talk to me in the lobby." Reffy replied quietly. She felt Jack tense up and turned to face him. "It's ok, Jack. Really. He didn't do anything, I promise." She whispered soothingly, wrapping her arms around his neck.

Jack began to relax but wrapped his arms tighter around Reffy, the anger remaining in his eyes as the show started.

Reffy sighed and turned her gaze to the stage to watch Medda. She saw Spot return to his seat out of the corner of her eye, but avoided looking at him. Being in Jack's arms made her feel safe, even from Spot.

But a feeling remained in her stomach. A feeling that Spot wasn't going to give up so easily.

**. . . . Thanks so much for the reviews! Sorry it took so long, I wasn't motivated, but reading the reviews got me to write a lot more. So review and I'll update very soon!**


	33. I Won't Let You

**Disclaimer: I don't own newsies, but I own everything else I wrote.**

**A/N: I'D READ THE PREVIOUS CHAPTER BEFORE YOU READ THIS ONE TO KEEP YOU FROM GETTING CONFUSED!**

The show was over.

As usual, Medda allowed the newsies to stay and continue their fun into the late hours of the night. It wasn't even midnight yet, and all the tables were full, the conversations loud and energetic. There were plenty of heated poker games scattered through the hall, and the newsies of New York City just enjoyed being in eachothers company.

One table in particular was all smiles. It consisted of Racetrack, Skittery, Specs, Crutchy, Kid Blink, Mush, and the new couple: Reffy and Jack.

"So I said to the lady, I was like, 'hey lady, how's about you and me get further acquainted in that cute little carriage of yours.'" Racetrack was enthusiastically telling them another one of his stories. "And she slaps me, like straight out _slapped_ me."

"Yea, yea, and his face was _priceless_!" Kid Blink explained excitedly. "And I was like, 'hey, what did you expect, Race? She was a nun, they don't do that stuff.'"

"How was I supposta know she was a nun!"

"Her nun clothes, dumbass!"

"It was dark out!"

Reffy rolled her eyes at her friends, a happy smile on her face as they continued with their 'argument'. Jack was sitting beside her, his arm slung casually around her shoulder as he laughed with everyone.

It was a different feeling for Reffy to have a boy with his arm around her shoulder. She was always 'the friend', never the girlfriend. She was thankful, but the things Spot said to her earlier were still on her mind.

Why did Spot Conlon care so much anyway? It was obvious that he wanted Reffy because he couldn't have her, but why say those things about Jack? They were good friends!

Reffy already made up her mind that she wasn't going to tell Jack. It wasn't her place to tell him about Spot's wrong-doings. It's not like what Spot said mattered anyway, right?

"So, Cowboy, now that we know about you and Reffy…"

"Yah?" Reffy asked, snapping her attention back to the conversation once she heard her name. They all laughed and Jack stared at her amusingly.

"You okay?" Jack asked, kissing her neck. Reffy shivered as she felt his lips brush against her skin when he talked, but tried to hide it.

"I'm fine." She murmured, giving him a quick smile and turning her attention back to the conversation.

"Let's get out of here." Jack suggested. Reffy turned her head and looked at him with her eyebrows raised. "What? I'm tired!" He lied. They said a quick goodbye and left Medda's without one look in Spot's direction.

Reffy and Jack ended up back at the lodging house. The _empty_ lodging house.

"I'm so tired," Reffy yawned, lying down on the bunk she shared with Jack. She looked over and noticed him staring at her from a few feet away.

His brown hair hung in his eyes, but he brushed it back as he walked towards her, lying down beside her on the bed.

"Jack, the boys could run up those stairs at any time." Reffy said, suppressing her laughter.

"Nah, they know I'll kill them. We won't be bothered for a while…" He said quietly, and leaned in to kiss her. At first Reffy wanted to protest, but immediately gave in.

Jack wrapped his arms around Reffy's waist and deepened the kiss, softly rubbing her sides with his thumbs. He suddenly let go, gently pushed her down, and got on top of her. Reffy sighed in content and pulled him closer to her.

Her whole body trembled as he touched her so tenderly with his hands that were rough from working on the streets everyday. Reffy felt like she was in heaven. That was until a familiar voice rang through her head from a conversation earlier that night in the lobby…

"_Did you forget that Jack has a kid? Huh? I'm sure he cared about that girl before he kicked her to the curb when he found out she was pregnant!"_

The voice in her head startled Reffy, and she stopped kissing him. Jack looked down at her, his forehead glistening with sweat as the moment started getting heavy. Everywhere they were touching on eachothers bodies felt like fire, but a part of Reffy was squirming to get away.

But Jack saw that nothing was wrong, and leaned down to continue kissing her. She began to relax again in his embrace and wrapped her arms around his neck, letting out a soft moan as he sucked on her bottom lip.

"_You know Jack just as much as I do, Ref. Don't be stupid."_

Spot's words kept ringing in her ears. As hard as she tried to forget, she couldn't. As much as she tried to ignore it, the voice in her head got louder. Jack separated her legs with his knee, and Reffy suddenly felt like she couldn't breathe.

"Jack, no. Wait." Reffy gasped, putting her hands on his chest and roughly pushing him away.

"What's wrong? What's going on with you?" Jack asked, his breathing heavy and his eyebrows furrowed in concern as he looked down at her.

"I'm – I'm not…" Reffy stuttered, trying to catch her breath, her chest moving up and down at a fast pace.

"Not what? Baby, what is it?" Jack asked, moving his hand to her face and brushing the damp hair off her forehead.

"I'm – I'm not gonna be…"

"Be what?"

"I'm not gonna be like… Like Gracie."

Jack sat up and stared at her with his mouth half open.

"That's the reason you're pushing me away, Ref? _That's_ the reason? Because of some girl I didn't even care about!"

"Jack, please… I didn't mean it like that, it's just…"

"No!" He yelled stubbornly, standing up and slamming his fist into the bunk post next to them. "Is it Gracie on your mind, or are is there another reason!"

Reffy sat up. "What are you talking about?"

"Is that what you think? That I'm gonna do that to ya? You think I'm _like that_, Reffy! AFTER EVERYTHING WE'VE BEEN THROUGH, THAT'S WHAT YOU THINK?"

"No, Jack…! Just calm down…"

"Answer me!"

"I'm just worried!"

"Why now! WHY NOW? Why the fuck did you think of that?"

"I don't… I…"

"IT WAS CONLON, WASN'T IT!"

"Stop yelling and listento me!"

"What did he say to you at Medda's!"

"Nothing!" Reffy replied desperately.

"No, better yet – why did you _listen_ to him?"

"I didn't." Reffy said calmly, reaching out for his hand. Jack pulled it out of her reach and ran his fingers through his hair.

"God, Reffy…" Jack said quietly, his eyes wandering around the room in disbelief. "If you only knew…"

Reffy slammed her fists down on the mattress beside her. "Knew what, huh? I already know about Gracie even though you _kept_ it from me. I know that supposedly you were in love with that girl Chelsea just yesterday." She argued. "I know you care about me, Jack, you always have, but I won't let you do the same thing to me."

Jack's eyes stopped wandering and finally landed on Reffy. "What are you saying, Ref?" He pleaded. "Just tell me."

"I'm not going to sleep with you tonight, Jack. I won't let you take that away from me yet." Reffy said, her eyes pointed towards the floor.

Jack stared at her for a moment, and nodded his head. "I'll wait for you. I don't care about that, I'll wait."

Reffy lifted her eyes to meet his as he stood infront of her. "I won't _let_ you leave me, Jack." She said defiantly. "Not like Gracie."

Jack's cheeks were still flushed in anger about Spot bringing up Gracie, but he sat beside Reffy and pulled her close. "And I won't _let_ you push me away, either, got it?" He said, his stubborn pride coming out as he held her tighter.

"Got it." She whispered, her voice sleepy as the energy ran out of her body.

"It's alright, everything's going to be okay, baby…" He whispered soothingly, running his fingers through her long hair. "I'm gonna talk to Spot about it tomorrow. He'll never bother you again."

…But Reffy didn't hear him. She was already asleep.

**A few more chapters to go… Sorry I've been lacking with updates. I've been focusing on my other story, Riley's Promise, but I didn't forget about this one! Review with feedback, I would really appreciate it. Thanks for the support! )**


	34. Wait It Out

**Disclaimer: I don't own Newsies, but I own the other characters.**

"That has got to be the biggest crock of bullshit you have ever told me in our 5 years of friendship. No shit, Ref. The biggest crock of bullshit."

Reffy rolled her eyes at her best friend. "I'm dead serious, Race. That's how it happened - why would I lie about it?"

"So you're saying that right there, in the middle of the street, Jack confessed his love to you all romantic-like." Racetrack explained dramatically, using his hands for emphasis. He shook his head, "I don't believe you. Jack ain't the romantic type."

Racetrack and Reffy had been arguing for fifteen minutes about what happened the night before. The morning sun was hot as they walked down the dusty streets with their papers.

"I'm not saying he's _romantic_," Reffy shrugged and adjusted the papers under her arm. "But he was sweet… and spontaneous."

"And a wuss." Racetrack finished, laughing when he had to dodge Reffy's fist.

"I just told you that story in confidence, so don't even think about telling the fellas. I love ya, but I'll still drown ya." Reffy threatened, nodding to the dirty water of the East River. They had finally reached their destination; Reffy's usual selling spot at the harbor.

Although Racetrack wanted to make some bets at the tracks today, he agreed to sell with Reffy when she begged him that morning.

"You're getting really girly on me, Ref." Racetrack commented. "You gonna start wearing that dress you were wearing when you came back from Boston or something?"

Reffy scrunched up her nose. "We threw that hideous dress in the fire a couple weeks ago, remember?"

He pursed his lips together in thought. "We did?"

"The night you were hanging off the railing of the stairs."

"Oh!" Racetrack exclaimed, suddenly remembering. "Whiskey night."

"Yeah."

"That explains why I don't remember." He gave her a toothy grin and walked away, putting distance between them so they could begin selling.

Reffy put her hat back on her head, throwing her long, wavy hair over her shoulder. It was going to be a hot day; and although the air was dry, she had to keep wiping the sweat off her forehead in between shouting.

The last thing she remembered last night was getting into an argument with Jack about Spot. She woke up to Kloppman tugging on her hair, yelling at her to get up and sell. She was in her own bed, and Jack was on the top bunk. It was funny to see him blocking his ears when Kloppman began yelling at him, but she went to the washroom to get ready and ask Racetrack to sell with her. She had a lot to talk to him about.

So with a kiss on the cheek, Jack bought his papers and went off selling while Reffy waited for Racetrack. Now here she was; sweating and shouting the headlines, squinting her eyes in the sun when she had a moment to breathe.

Spot's words were still haunting her, but she quickly pushed them to the back of her mind.

"It's hot as hell," Racetrack complained. "This heat sucks." He had finally approached her a while later with no papers left.

"Yeah." Reffy replied weakly, picking her hair off her neck. She still had 4 or 5 papers left, and had no intention of shouting another headline. Racetrack noticed this, and grabbed the papers from her hands.

"EXTRA! SCORCHING HEAT CAUSING DEATHS ALL AROUND THE CITY! DON'T BE THE NEXT VICTIM – READ ALL ABOUT IT!"

Racetrack's fake headline quickly sold the rest of Reffy's papers, and they began walking back to the lodging house.

On the way, Racetrack noticed an uneasy look on her face. He pulled out his cigarettes and offered her one, but she took one look at it and shook her head. That was when he knew something definitely wasn't right.

"What is it?" He asked in a knowing voice.

Reffy looked up at him as they walked, raising her eyebrows. "What is what?"

Racetrack rolled his eyes as he lit his cigarette. "Something's wrong and I want to know what it is."

"Nothing's wrong…" Reffy trailed off for a moment. Racetrack didn't say anything, so she glanced up at him and shrugged. "It's just some stuff Spot said to me last night…"

Racetrack furrowed his eyebrows. "What'd he say?"

They turned a corner to see the Horace Greeley statue a short distance ahead of them. The newsies were crowded around the area as they waited for the next edition to come out. Reffy noticed this and pulled Racetrack down the street to the lodging house, wanting privacy so no one else could hear.

"Listen… I didn't tell you the whole story this morning." Reffy started, taking a seat on the front steps of the lodging house.

Racetrack threw his cigarette onto the street and sat beside her. "If something else happened then you should tell me," He explained. "You tell me everything."

"I know, I'm just…" Reffy sighed and looked at her feet. "I don't know what to do."

Racetrack gave her a concerned look. "What happened with Conlon, Ref?"

She looked up at Racetrack, then looked out onto the street as she began to tell him the other part of the story. "Spot tried coming onto me at the lodging house once you all left to go to Medda's."

Racetrack's jaw dropped. "What the hell did he do!" He asked angrily.

Reffy quickly shushed him and continued. "I don't know how to explain it," She said, running her fingers through her hair in frustration. "He told me I was different. He wants me because I don't throw myself all over him like every other girl in the city. I'm a 'challenge' to him, and he told me he never backed down from a challenge."

"I'll break that cane over the bastard's face!" Racetrack fumed as he stood up.

"Racetrack, wait! I'm not done – just listen!" Reffy demanded, pulling him back down next to her. She waited a moment for Racetrack to take a few breaths, and continued. "Look, he didn't do anything after that. Jack walked in and made him leave."

After letting the story process through his head, Racetrack wiped the sweat from his forehead. "Don't worry about it, Ref." He said, putting his arm around her shoulder. "Spot knows to stay away now – you're Jack's girl. They both have a borough they're in charge of, and there's an unwritten rule about staying away from a leaders girl."

"I'm not done."

"Shit." Racetrack mumbled, knowing the story was going to get worse.

"Spot brought up Gracie when I talked to him at Medda's." Reffy said, her eyes set on the street before her. "Jack was going a little too far last night when we got back from the show, and I brought her up."

Racetrack laughed in disbelief. "When did you get so stupid?" He asked, shaking his head in disappointment.

"I don't know." Reffy whined. "But I couldn't get Spot's voice out of my head, and I wasn't ready to go any further with Jack. You guys do so much with all those girls you know, but I'm not like them. I'm not ready, and I got nervous."

Racetrack took his arm off her shoulder and squeezed her hand. "There's nothing to worry about, Ref." He assured her. "It's not a big deal. You have every right to be worried about Jack hurting you."

"No, Race. It _is_ a big deal. Jack knows Spot put those thoughts in my head."

Racetrack ripped his hand away in surprise. "You told him!"

"He just knew! I didn't tell him anything, I swear. Jack's smart, he knows Spot must've said something."

Reffy stopped talking for a moment, and Racetrack rubbed the corner of his hat as he thought things through. She bit her lip, knowing this was a pretty bad situation. Spot and Jack were friends, Manhattan and Brooklyn were allies, and both leaders had the same stubborn pride that could ruin it all.

"Look, the only thing you can do is wait it out, you know?" Racetrack startled her as he broke her train of thought.

Reffy raised her eyebrows. "Wait it out?"

"Yeah. Wait and see if Spot will back off or not. We're having poker night in Manhattan this weekend. We'll see if there's a problem on poker night, you know? Spot will be here. Until then, don't worry about it."

Reffy thought it over and nodded. She looked up at Racetrack and gave him a weak half-smirk. He playfully put her in a headlock and pulled her up.

"Come on, we gotta sell the next edition, and you're supposed to meet Jack at the gates."

Reffy nodded again after Racetrack let her go, and they began walking to the distribution center. Talking to Racetrack helped ease her mind, but she couldn't shake the bad feeling she had in her stomach. Jack trusted her, she knew that, and he trusted Spot too. Spot was respected, and the bond between him and Jack seemed unbreakable.

Biting her lip, Reffy played with a lock of her hair as they turned the corner and saw the other newsies waiting around. She knew Spot was a trustworthy leader, but there was one thing he could not be trusted with – girls.

It was his reputation. Spot Conlon got what he wanted. If he wanted a girl, he'll do everything in his power to get her. Even if he has to break a few 'unwritten' rules.

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**Yeahhh I updated! I also have the next chapter written. It takes place on the same day, and something happens while Reffy is selling the next edition. I'll update once I get some reviews in! The chapter after that will be the poker game, and it's going to be one of the most important chapters in the whole story. I'm in the middle of writing that one, so review! I want to put it up! Thanks so much for the reviews – I'm so happy this story is still getting some support so I have the motivation to finish it. You're all amazing and it means a lot to me! )**


	35. Business

**Disclaimer: I don't own newsies, but I own everything else I wrote.**

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"It's so hot." Reffy whined, unbuttoning another button from her white shirt as they walked back from selling at the harbor.

"Getting ready for Jacky-boy?" Racetrack teased, looking at the low opening of her shirt with a smirk.

"I hate you."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Racetrack dismissively shoved her away. Most of the newsboys were lingering around the Horace Greeley statue when they arrived, seeking a spot in the shade of the buildings and other things.

"Race. Reffy." Blink greeted them lazily, leaning the back of his head against the base of the statue. Skittery was beside him, his hat over his face.

Immediately, Reffy pushed Racetrack away and got the spot of shade on the ground next to Kid Blink. She rested her back on the ground, her head on Blink's knee, and closed her eyes; thankful for the break from the unbearable sunlight.

Racetrack frowned in anger. "That wasn't funny, Ref. Where the hell am I supposed to sit?"

"I'm not laughing." Reffy pointed out, her eyes still closed. "Sit where you're standing."

Kid Blink just smiled at the entertainment while they all waited for the next edition of newspapers. Skittery's face remained covered, as if he was sleeping.

"Move over, Ref." Race whined angrily, sitting on the ground and pushing at her legs, fighting for a spot in the shade of the statue.

"Get outta here, Racetrack." Skittery said, his voice muffled from underneath his hat.

Racetrack gave up and just sat on Reffy's legs, too tired to fight and too hot to walk anywhere else.

"I hate summer." Kid Blink mumbled, closing his eyes again.

"Yeah, but when it's cold we all hate winter." Skittery said, taking the hat off his face and scratching his head. "That's why I like spring." He finished, once again covering his face with the hat.

"Cowboy loves summer. He's the only freak that enjoys days like these." Blink replied.

"Where is Cowboy anyway?" Racetrack asked, looking around the square and lighting up a cigarette.

"I can't feel my legs, Race." Reffy opened her eyes and slowly sat up, lazily trying to push Racetrack off of her.

"Oh, nevermind – I see him." Racetrack answered his own question, ignoring Reffy's pushes as he nodded to Jack's approaching figure.

"He's been acting weird all day," Blink told them quietly before Jack could hear. "Just warning you."

Reffy, who was too busy trying to push Racetrack off of her, wasn't paying attention to the conversation as she struggled. "I'm not joking, Racetrack! Get off!"

"Weird?" Racetrack questioned, practically on Reffy's lap. He took another drag from his cigarette and gave Kid Blink a questioning look.

"This isn't funny!" Reffy complained as Racetrack ignored her.

Jack was still making his way towards them, grumpily nodding at those who greeted him instead of giving them a smile and a pat on the back like he usually did.

Skittery removed the hat from his face to look at Jack. "He's in a bad mood or something," He said to Racetrack, shrugging his shoulders. "Won't talk to no one about it though."

"Seriously, Racetrack!" Reffy yelled, pounding her fists on his arms and back. "My legs are numb – get off!"

Still ignoring Reffy's protests, Racetrack lowered his cigarette and turned to Blink and Skittery. "He won't tell no one what's wrong?" He asked.

"Nah, not a word." Blink replied. "Last time he acted like this was when this runt ran away to Boston." He pointed his thumb to Reffy, who was now trying to bite Racetrack's arm.

"Jesus Christ!" Racetrack exclaimed in surprise, yanking his arm away. "What are you – a dog!"

Kid Blink laughed, finally noticing Reffy's struggle. "You okay, kiddo?"

Reffy gave up her struggle. "Yeah, I'm okay, but I'm gonna kick some fu – Hey!" Reffy stopped mid-sentence to greet Jack as he stood in front of them.

Jack raised his eyebrows at them in confusion. "… Do I even wanna ask?"

"This is what I figure," Racetrack started explaining. "Why the hell should I sit in the _sun_ while the little princess here sits in the shade?" He asked; pressing his lips together and shrugging his shoulders, as if that answered everything. He took the last drag of his cigarette and tossed it, giving Reffy the opportunity she needed to shove him off of her legs.

Kid Blink and Skittery laughed as Racetrack was pushed next to Jack's feet.

"Not so funny now, are ya?" Reffy asked with a smirk, rubbing her legs to get back her circulation.

"Ha ha, nice one." Race said sarcastically as he sat up and squinted his eyes in the sunlight.

Reffy then looked up at Jack and smiled. "How's it rolling, Jacky-boy?" She asked.

For the first time since earlier that morning, Jack smiled. It was a genuine smile, but his friends could tell something wasn't right; the smile didn't reach his eyes, so something else was on his mind.

"Come here." He ordered, waiting for her to get up and kiss him.

Reffy rolled her eyes. "I _would_, but I can't feel my legs." She said, narrowing eyes playfully at Racetrack.

Jack leaned down and grabbed her arms, pulling her up and close to his chest. Next thing she knew, his lips were passionately upon hers in an urgent kiss. When he broke away, Reffy was left breathless.

She looked up at Jack with concern, raising her eyebrows. "Are you okay?" She asked quietly so no one else could hear.

Without answering her, Jack continued staring into her eyes. She was about to ask him again but a new voice caused him to look away.

"Heya fellas!" Mush greeted cheerfully, patting Jack on the back as he smiled at the boys sitting on the ground.

"Hi Mush." The three boys replied in unison, their voices lazy from the afternoon sun. Reffy had to hide her gasp as Jack wrapped his arm around her waist tightly, pulling her close when a few inches of space came between them.

Getting over her startled reaction, Reffy cleared her throat and raised her eyebrows at Mush.

"And heya Reffy." Mush added, softly pinching her cheek in a teasing manner.

Reffy smacked his hand away and smiled. "That's what I thought."

"How long until the next edition?" Skittery asked, shoving the hat over his face again and leaning his head against the statue.

Racetrack checked his pocket watch real quick. "About 10 minutes."

Reffy sighed and looked up at Jack, leaning her chin on his strong arm. His eyes were wandering around the street, keeping out of the conversation and avoiding eye contact with anyone.

"It feels so good sitting in the shade, don't it, Blink?" Racetrack asked, relaxing in Reffy's spot.

"It's heaven compared to standing in the blaring sun, that's for sure." Kid Blink played along, a laughing smile on his face.

Reffy walked out of Jack's hold and sat on Racetrack's stomach, causing him to groan.

"I know – ain't it great, boys?" She joined.

Mush found this funny and started laughing loudly as Racetrack tried catching his breath, kicking his legs in the process. She patted Racetrack's cheek and gave him a sweet smile before standing up. Race just grabbed his stomach and glared at Mush and Blink who were openly laughing at him.

Reffy noticed as Jack adjusted the red bandana around his neck and looked around at the newsies he was in charge of, making sure none were missing for the start of the next edition.

"I didn't see you selling at your usual spots today, Cowboy. Where'd you go?" Blink asked once he stopped laughing.

"Just took care of some business, Kid. That's all." Jack answered nonchalantly, still not looking at any of them. The tone of his voice meant they weren't getting anymore information.

Reffy stood next to Mush and crossed her arms. She bit her lip and looked down at Racetrack, raising her eyebrow. Racetrack just shrugged, and changed the subject.

"So, Jack… Who you selling the next edition with?"

Jack only shrugged in reply and continued looking around the square. The far off look in his eyes remained as he avoided all conversation with them.

"Wanna sell together?" Reffy asked, stepping in front of him.

Finally making eye contact with someone, Jack looked down at Reffy. "I have some stuff to take care of, babe." He replied. "Just sell with Race again and I'll see you tonight."

With nothing left to say, Reffy quietly nodded her head.

"Everything okay, Jack?" Racetrack asked suspiciously.

Jack put his hand on Reffy's shoulder and leaned down, kissing her forehead. He left his lips on her skin, as if in thought, and let out a long sigh before pulling away. "Yea," He answered Racetrack. "Everything's fine." Without another word, Jack turned around and walked in the direction of the lodging house.

Once Jack was a good distance away, Skittery lifted the hat off his face. "Yeah, something definitely happened."

"_Really_?" Race asked sarcastically. Rolling his eyes, he slapped the back of Skittery's head. "Go back to sleep, genius." Turning to Reffy, his face turned serious, "You know anything about this, Ref?"

Reffy bit her lip and shook her head. "I don't know, he hasn't told me nothing."

Suddenly the gate opened, causing the newsies in the square to get up and stand in line at the distribution center. Reffy couldn't get rid of the feeling she had in her stomach. It was unlike Jack to act so secretive.

"Back to the harbor?" Racetrack asked as they bought their papers.

"Yeah, let's go." Reffy replied, walking down the stairs.

"Maybe he's upset about last night." Racetrack suggested once they were away from the crowd.

She shrugged, looking down to the ground. "Maybe."

Racetrack thought for a moment. Looking at Reffy for a reaction, he made another suggestion. "…Maybe he's nervous about the poker game."

Reffy let out a sigh and brought her fingers up to her lips, remembering how hard Jack had just kissed her. She then bit her lower lip and remembered his arm around her waist; how he held her so protectively, showing that she belonged to him or something.

"I think he's nervous." Racetrack said, seeing the expression on her face and practically reading her mind.

"He shouldn't be nervous."

"You don't understand, Ref… Jack and Spot are the two newsies all girls want," Racetrack explained. "And me, ofcourse." He added jokingly, a sly smile on his face before he turned serious again. "You can't blame the guy for being nervous. The only person capable of stealing one of Jack's girls is Spot. Same with Jack stealing one of Spot's girls, you know?"

Reffy glanced up at him. "I don't care. Jack should trust me."

"He does trust you. He just don't trust Spot… Not when he's around _you_."

Reffy let out a long breath and glanced down at her papers. The headlines were practically the same as they were this morning, and they still sucked. They only bought 20 each, knowing they wouldn't be able to sell a lot. Reffy tried looking over the headlines as they walked, but suddenly closed the newspaper in a huff.

"What am I supposed to do at this poker game, Race?" She asked desperately, letting her tough exterior melt away and showing the girl only Racetrack usually saw.

Racetrack adjusted the papers under his arm and pulled out his cigarettes again. "There's only one thing you can do…" He started.

Biting her lip, she looked up at Racetrack expectantly.

"…Stay the hell _away_ from Spot Conlon on poker night." Racetrack warned. He offered Reffy a cigarette, but she shook her head 'no' for the second time that day; something she would usually never do.

Running her fingers through her hair, Reffy adjusted her papers under her arm as Racetrack lit up his cigarette. They already made it to the harbor, but she barely even noticed. Her mind immediately turned to the poker game, and her stomach tensed up at the thought of Spot and Jack in the same room.

"You can easily stay away from him, Ref, can't you?" Racetrack asked, noticing her uneasiness as he blew out some smoke.

Reffy thought about it. Stay away from Spot Conlon? She could easily stay away from him… But him staying away from her? That was a different story.

"Ref?"

Reffy looked up at Racetrack and sighed. "It's not as easy as you think, Race. Spot is…" She paused, trying to find the right words. "He's… Slick."

Racetrack nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I know."

"He's gonna try something. I can feel it." Reffy explained, shaking her head as she looked off into the distance. "He's pissed at me. He'll start trouble, I _know_ he will."

"It'll be fine, kid." Racetrack assured her, pulling off her hat and ruffling up her long hair. "You worry too much."

Reffy smirked and grabbed her hat from him, placing it back on her head. "Yeah, yeah. C'mon, let's get rid of these. I wanna walk back with money – not papes."

Racetrack was about to walk off, throwing his cigarette to the ground, but a thought suddenly stopped him from leaving. "Hey, Ref?"

Turning towards him again, Reffy raised a questioning eyebrow. "What?"

"What kind of 'business' do you think Jack had to take care of today?"

Reffy's face slowly dropped as the thought suddenly occurred to her.

"You think he'd tell us if something's going on, right?" Racetrack asked.

"Ofcourse." Reffy answered, almost too quickly. "Jack wouldn't keep anything from us."

"Right."

He turned to walk away when Reffy grabbed his shoulder, turning him back to face her. Racetrack gave her a questioning look as she took a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves and relax.

"You okay?" He asked.

She threw her papers down on the sidewalk with shaky hands. "I think I need that cigarette now."

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**Poker chapter next – Yay! I'm excited to write it. Review, review, review! I want to update soon – THANKS SO MUCH!**


	36. Game Night

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from Newsies, but I own the rest.**

**A/N – If you have the time, I'd skim the last chapter… In case you forgot all the details.**

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Reffy nervously paced back and forth in the empty bunkroom of the lodging house. "I have a bad feeling about tonight, Race."

"Will ya just sit still for a minute? You're making me crazy." Racetrack scolded her, sitting up from his bed.

"I can't, I'm too nervous! I need to do something." Reffy replied, coming to a halt and turning to her best friend. It was Saturday afternoon; the Brooklyn newsies would be arriving that night to play poker, and Spot Conlon was someone she was not looking forward to seeing.

Racetrack gave Reffy a skeptical look. "Whenever we do something it usually means we get in trouble."

She shrugged, waiting for him to make a point.

" – Well, Jack's been in a pissed off mood all week, right?" She nodded, so he continued. "So shouldn't we stay out of trouble so it won't get any worse?"

"I don't want to go get thrown in jail, Race." Reffy replied, walking over to his bunk. "I just need to do something fun. Besides, Kloppman won't be here all weekend! He can't yell at us if he ain't here!"

Kloppman had a niece upstate, and every once in a while he would get enough courage to leave the lodging house for a few days to visit. It was always a party when Kloppman was away. Not that they didn't love him or anything; they just took full advantage.

"Just 'cause Kloppy ain't here doesn't mean we won't get in trouble," Racetrack replied.

Reffy sighed in frustration. "Nothing FUN is_ ever_ legal, or safe... or polite… or whatever, so just quit whining and let's do something! I'm going crazy!"

He smirked, finally giving up. "A'right, what do you wanna do?"

Reffy crossed her arms and walked over to the window. The other newsies were outside, finally done selling for the day. Trying to come up with an idea, she scanned the crowd and bit her lip. It wasn't until a small giggle from below caught her attention, and an idea popped into her head.

"Perfect." Reffy whispered to herself, a smirk forming on her lips as she looked down from the window. Leaning against the wall was Kid Blink and his recent 'fling' from another borough. They were deep in a passionate kiss, and Racetrack had to stifle a laugh once he walked over and saw them too.

Racetrack turned to Reffy. "Water?"

"Of course."

Reffy grabbed the tin cup that held Racetrack's cigars off of the table next to his bunk. She ran to the washroom where Racetrack was waiting, searching for another cup to fill with water.

"We have no time to look for another cup! Hurry, we'll just fill this one to the top." Reffy said, walking to the pump and filling it up.

"Blink is gonna be so pissed off!" Racetrack laughed, walking behind Reffy as they passed the bunks again.

"We have to book ass out of the lodging house the second it splashes on them, got it?." Reffy warned, smiling with anticipation.

It was the first time Reffy had smiled all week. With Jack in a rotten mood, it was difficult for her to have fun. No one was used to Jack acting this way, but Reffy and Racetrack were the only two who knew the real reason behind it.

"Don't spill it, Ref." Racetrack said, still out of breath from trying to stifle his laughter as they approached the open window.

"Obviously I won't, dumbass." Reffy replied, looking back at him accusingly. It was too late. As soon as she turned around, her foot collided with the end of one of the bunks and the cup went flying in the air. They both gasped as the liquid spilled onto the thin mattress beside her.

"That was _your_ fault!" Reffy blurted out immediately.

Racetrack laughed out loud. "You fucking idiot! Whose bunk is that?"

The answer flashed through her mind, and Reffy erupted in laughter. "It's Ruby's!" She replied, picking up the empty cup from the wet bed.

"What do we do?" Racetrack asked quickly, a wide smile on his face as he chuckled again.

"Umm…" Reffy frantically glanced at the open window. "Put the mattress outside to dry? Would that work?"

"The whole mattress?" He shook his head. "Too big."

Reffy looked over at the soaking wet bed and stifled her laughter. "Um, blame it on some one else…?"

Racetrack rolled his eyes. "Never works. We need to dry it… And FAST."

She bit her lip in thought. "…Blow on it?"

They both jumped when footsteps were suddenly heard coming up the stairs. "Shit! Stash the cup." Racetrack exclaimed quietly, jumping away from the bed and plopping down on Reffy's.

Hesitantly looking around the room, she tossed the cup out the open window and leapt onto her bed next to Racetrack just in time.

"Hi, Jack!"

"Heya, Cowboy."

Jack Kelly stood at the top of the stairs, eyeing the two suspiciously. Racetrack and Reffy kept their smiles on their faces, their cheeks flushed from being out of breath.

"What'd you guys do?" Jack asked knowingly.

Racetrack and Reffy both let out a pathetic laugh. "Nothing." They replied in unison, looking at Jack like he was crazy.

Shaking his head at their pathetic act, Jack chose to let it go and walked into the washroom. Just as he splashed some cold water on his face, more footsteps were heard coming up the stairs as the newsies entered the bunkroom. The sun was close to setting and the room needed to be set up for poker night.

" – And I haven't seen Spot for a whole 2 days, so I can't wait to see him. He's been really busy, you know? But that's okay, because he'll make up for it. He always makes up for it – it's soo sweet! This one time…"

Reffy and Racetrack rolled their eyes at the sound of Ruby's voice. She walked up the stairs, talking nonstop to Crutchy. Ruby's favorite topic of conversation was Spot, so it was obvious what she was blabbing about.

"Yeah, that's real sweet, Ruby." Crutchy replied unenthusiastically.

"Wow, she even has Crutchy ready to kill himself…" Racetrack shook his head, watching the pair. "And that kid loves talking."

"I don't know why none of you guys haven't slapped her yet." Reffy mumbled, looking away in disgust.

Jack walked out of the washroom and sat on the bed next to Reffy's, grabbing both of her arms and pulling her next to him. Racetrack remained on Reffy's bed, a lit cigarette in his hand.

"You sell good today?" Jack asked, one hand casually running through Reffy's hair while the other accepted the cigarette that Racetrack was offering.

Reffy exchanged a look with Racetrack and rested her head on Jack's shoulder. "Sure. What about you? Where did you go?"

"I had some -"

"- business to take care of," Reffy finished for him, rolling her eyes and lifting her head from his shoulder. "You haven't been around all week, Jack."

Shrugging nonchalantly, Jack handed the cigarette back to Racetrack and rested against the back of the bed. Reffy realized that was the only answer she was going to get, and gave Racetrack an annoyed look.

Racetrack was about to give her a shrug, but his gaze averted to the end of the bunk instead. Ruby had approached them with an anxious look on her face. "Honestly, when is Spot getting here? Did he say?"

Reffy rolled her eyes. "Calm down, will ya?"

"I didn't ask you!" Ruby exclaimed, sending her a glare.

Reffy stood up. "Well no one here wants to talk to you, so who the hell are you asking!"

Jack groaned. "Not now, girls… I don't want to hear it."

Ruby continued staring at Reffy with her eyes narrowed, hands on her hips. Ruby had always hated Reffy – nothing could change that. Not even when Reffy covered for Ruby after her father came looking for her. The good deed was short lasting; nothing could change the fact that Ruby caught Spot kissing her enemy. Nobody – not even Spot – knew that Jack found out about what happened. Ruby would've told Jack about Spot kissing Reffy ages ago, but fear of what Reffy could do for revenge kept her from doing it.

Things might have changed – but Reffy's reputation was still intact. Ruby would never try to fight her… She was in that situation once, and tried her hardest to prevent it from happening again. Of course, that didn't mean Ruby never argued with Reffy. Actually, Ruby argued with Reffy every chance that she got.

Reffy crossed her arms, raising her eyebrows as she tilted her head to the side. "Hello…? Are you deaf?"

Ruby scoffed. "Excuse me?"

"You heard what Jack said - he doesn't want to hear it, so go away." Reffy shooed her with one hand, hiding her smile when Ruby stomped back over to Crutchy. Jack chuckled and stood up, getting caught in a conversation with Mush and Skittery.

"Poor Crutchy." Racetrack commented, shaking his head sadly as he watched Ruby talk his ear off some more.

"Don't you go worrying about Crutchy," Reffy said, sitting next to Racetrack on her bunk again. "That crutch could come in handy if he needed it. One swing and she'd shut right up."

Racetrack laughed. "I'd pay to see that."

"Go get me his crutch and I'll do it for free." Reffy replied, stealing his cigarette for the last couple of drags.

More newsies filed into the bunkroom, helping out by moving some of the bunks back so the poker table could fit. They needed to use the bunkroom because Kloppman would notice if the furniture downstairs got moved around. Fortunately for them, there was plenty of room.

"Ref, look!" Racetrack elbowed Reffy's side to get her attention, looking over at Ruby's bed. "I swear to God, she's going to sit on it – watch." He predicted in a whisper. Ruby failed to notice the huge wet spot on her bed, and continued talking to Crutchy as she stood beside it.

"Holy shit, I think she is." Reffy laughed, trying to keep quiet by covering her mouth.

"She's gonna sit down… Wait for it…" Ruby backed up to her bed, still deep in conversation. It actually looked like she was going to sit… Racetrack snorted with laughter. "See! Look, she's gonna do it… 3… 2… 1…"

The second Ruby sat down, her talking came to a halt as her mouth dropped open. Leaping up from the bed, the most awkward and earsplitting screeching noise came from her mouth.

All conversation stopped as the boys looked over at Ruby's bunk. Her scream seemed to echo off of the walls as Ruby clutched her behind, covering the wetness in shock.

Racetrack and Reffy suddenly erupted in a fit of laughter, startling everyone in the room.

"What the…!" Reffy could barely talk between her laughs. "What the hell… Was _that_!"

Racetrack could barely breathe after hearing Ruby's screech. "She sounded like – like a pig or something!"

They both doubled over in laughter, falling off the bunk and clutching onto their stomachs.

"YOU TWO DID THIS, DIDN'T YOU!" Ruby screamed, her face red from embarrassment.

Jack looked away from Ruby and closed his eyes, massaging his temples as he waited for an answer. "Reffy… Racetrack…"

Reffy was the first to compose herself as she sat up. "Did what, hun?" She asked in a questioning voice, raising her eyebrows to look innocent.

"THIS!" Ruby screeched, pointing to her wet bed. "AND THIS!" She added, turning around to show the large wet spot on her dress.

"Oh no!" Reffy exclaimed overdramatically. "That's awful, Ruby! Racetrack – did you see this?" She pulled Racetrack upright so he could see.

"Aw, Ruby… That's too bad, doll." Racetrack tried sounding sympathetic, but his voice started to crack. "I mean… Wh-who would've poured," He couldn't help but snort with laughter, "who would've poured _water_ on your bed?"

Specs walked out from the washroom, cleaning his glasses with a cloth. "You guys suck at lying," he pointed out.

"He's right, you know." Skittery agreed, smiling as he looked over at them. "You used to be _good_ at getting away with this kind of stuff."

"But did you hear her!" Reffy exclaimed, laughter returning to her voice again. "I think she squealed or something!"

Jack tried to hide the smile that was appearing on his face as the boys in the room tried suppressing their laughter. Reffy and Racetrack helped each other off the floor and wiped their watery eyes.

"I hope you're happy!" Ruby yelled, storming to the end of her bed to search through her trunk. "Now I have to get changed and Spot will be here any minute!"

The smile disappeared from Jack's face once he heard the name, and the serious look the newsies were used to seeing for the past few days appeared again.

Reffy noticed Jack's change of attitude, but quickly chose to ignore it when Racetrack began teasing Ruby again.

"So, Ruby…" He stood up and leaned at the end of the bunk. "How come we never gave you a nickname?"

"Because I hate them," She replied rudely, pulling out another dress and slamming the trunk shut.

"But everyone needs a nickname," Reffy added, now standing next to Racetrack. "It's like… An unwritten 'newsie rule' or something."

"Leave her alone, you two." Mush said, walking by and giving them a look.

"What could we call Ruby?" Racetrack thought out loud.

"You call me Ruby, or else I call for my boyfriend to beat the crap out of you." Ruby warned, pushing by them to change in the washroom.

Reffy smiled. "I got one! We'll call her Squeals."

"Squeals?" Racetrack laughed. "Like a pig?"

"It fits her, don't it?"

Racetrack smirked. "Or how 'bout we call her 'the dame that wets her bed'?"

"I like that one, too."

Ruby turned around to yell, but Jack put his hand on her shoulder. "You guys are walking on thin ice today – don't push it." He warned Racetrack and Reffy.

Quirking an eyebrow with satisfaction, Ruby turned to Jack and smiled. "Thank you, Jack." She said, running her finger seductively down his chest.

On instinct, Racetrack grabbed Reffy's arm to hold her back as Ruby entered the washroom.

Jack rolled his eyes. "Ignore her – she's trying to piss you off."

"Why didn't you slap her around, huh! That skank just touched you!"

Taking a few steps forward, Jack sighed and ran his fingers through her hair, pulling her forward. He held her head gently to his chest as his other hand rubbed circled on her back. "We all know you just pulled that prank on her, babe… You're the one who started it, so just let it go now."

Reffy furrowed her eyebrows and pulled away. "We didn't pull that prank on her!" She defended herself. "Even ask Race!"

Jack gave Racetrack a look. In return, Racetrack just shrugged his shoulders. "It's true, Cowboy. We had nothing to do with her bed being wet. For all we know – she did it in her sleep… If you know what I'm saying. Remember Snipe had that problem once?"

"I remember that!" Reffy exclaimed, laughing out loud. "You begged everyone to switch bunks with you because you didn't want to be next to him!"

"Shut up!" Snipeshooter yelled from his bunk.

Letting out a sigh, Jack ran his fingers through his hair. "I'm serious. The last thing I need today is to play hero whenever you guys get bored and want to torture Ruby."

Reffy pointed her finger at his chest. "Listen, buddy – there's no proof, so we ain't guilty. End of story, so -"

Her sentence was interrupted by a familiar voice. "Blink just got knocked in the head by a tin cup," They all turned to face the stairs and saw Spot Conlon; holding a tin cup in his hand, many of his Brooklyn newsies behind him as he strolled further into the room. "I'm tellin' ya, the guy is going friggin' crazy… Keeps saying it fell from the sky or something."

From his top bunk, Skittery leaned over the side to catch a peek at the cup. A smartass smile appeared on his face. "Hey, if I'm not mistaken… It looks a lot like that cup you hold your precious cigars in, don't it, Race?"

"How did _that_ get down there?" Racetrack asked innocently, giving Jack a clueless look as he walked over to Spot.

Jack crossed his arms, looking at Reffy and nodding in Spot's direction. "Proof." He said simply.

Reffy knew he had the upper-hand, and looked away. "It's not my fault Spot is an asshole who needs to mind his own business when someone gets hit by a cup." She mumbled. Looking up to see Jack, a worried frown came to her lips. She could tell Jack was trying his hardest to control his temper as the Brooklyn leader greeted those around him. Spot didn't have a care in the world, while Jack was clenching his fists.

"A'right, just make it easy on yourselves and give me your money right now." Spot announced with a smirk as competitive challenges were being shot at him from all around the room. No one noticed the few extra seconds he spent looking at Reffy, but she quickly looked away.

"Spot, you're here!" Ruby yelled happily, running from the washroom to greet him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her lips against his.

"Spot!" Racetrack mocked her quietly, causing those who heard nearby to chuckle. Jack remained serious, taking a seat at the table.

Reffy walked over and sat on Jack's lap, noticing the way his jaw was clenched as he looked at Spot. He immediately relaxed and rubbed his thumb along her knee, giving her a smirk for reassurance.

Ruby finally let go of Spot as he walked over to their table, nodding his head happily to those who he passed.

"Hey, Cowboy," Spot greeted in a friendly manner. "How's it rollin'?" He hit Jack on the back and smirked.

Jack stared at Spot for a moment before returning the smile. "Ah, you know, same as always." He shrugged nonchalantly, looking back at Reffy and giving her knee a discreet squeeze. She couldn't help but smile at how proud he was of himself for keeping his cool.

Spot grinned and looked at Reffy. "Ref," He greeted, tipping his hat gracefully before walking away, socializing a bit before the poker game started. Reffy caught him glancing over at her a few times, but kept all attention on her boyfriend.

"Relax… You're getting so tense." Reffy whispered, reaching her hand behind Jack's neck and massaging it.

Jack sighed. "I know, I know…" He complained, giving her a quick peck on the lips before turning his attention to the others walking into the room. The Brooklyn newsies were enthusiastically greeting those from Manhattan. Poker nights were the only nights everyone from both boroughs could take time to relax and have a good time with each other.

Reffy wasn't really listening as everyone came over to say hi to Jack, who was always popular at get-togethers. She was finally ripped from her daze when someone spoke up to get her attention. "Heya Reffy." Dodge, another Brooklyn newsie, greeted her.

"Dodge, hi!" Reffy said happily. She stood up to talk to him and the others, but was pulled back down by Jack's arms. Dodge just let out a friendly laugh before starting a conversation with someone else.

Reffy gave Jack a look, and his eyes widened. "What!" He asked cluelessly.

"You're unbelievable."

Jack smiled. "I know I am." He replied confidently, squeezing her thigh and in return receiving a smack in the chest. He just chuckled, and Reffy allowed herself to finally relax.

"A'right, I'm sick of talking – let's start this game already." Racetrack announced, sitting at the table and pulling out a deck of cards.

"Those cards suck, Race." Skittery complained, sitting down near him.

"They're my lucky cards!" Racetrack defended himself, shuffling them.

"Ain't there 5 or 6 missing from the deck?" Mush laughed.

Racetrack rolled his eyes. "It don't matter 'cause I'm gonna win anyways, so sit down!"

"Where'd Spot go?" A Brooklyn newsie asked, looking around the room.

"Went up to the roof with Ruby," Racetrack replied, cigar between his lips. "She wanted to 'talk' to him."

Kid Blink, who arrived a few minutes ago from the 'incident' outside, smiled widely. "Ha! Yeah, I'm pretty sure she has 'talked' to every guy in here."

Reffy rolled her eyes as everyone in the room started laughing. She stood up from Jack's lap.

"Where are you going?" He asked, grabbing her arm.

"To get my cards." Reffy replied slowly, raising a questioning eyebrow.

Jack glanced over at the window leading to the fire escape, then looked back at her. "A'right, go ahead." He said, knowing Spot was on the roof.

"Thanks for the permission." Reffy replied sarcastically, leaving the bunkroom and walking downstairs.

A deck of cards was always stashed under Kloppman's desk; Reffy came up with the idea after Racetrack almost had a panic attack when half of his cards were missing one night. The boys couldn't keep track of their belongings to save their lives, so it wasn't a surprise when cards would randomly disappear.

Pulling out the deck, she looked up from the desk and froze.

"Look at what we got here… My favorite Manhattan newsie."

Reffy stood up straight and felt her stomach turn. "Why aren't you on the roof…?"

Her question was ignored. "So, I can see you didn't listen to any of my advice." Spot pointed out casually, leaning on the desk and taking the cards from her hands.

Reffy snatched the cards back. "You called that advice?" She scoffed. "I called it being JEALOUS."

Letting his guard down, the arrogant smirk left Spot's face and was replaced with a look of disbelief. "Come on, Reffy – how ignorant can you get!"

"Ignorant?" Reffy raised her eyebrows. "Why are you trying to use your 'smart words' on me? I still don't care what you say about Jack, so I'm not being ignorant."

Spot rolled his eyes. "Is it that hard to believe that I actually care about ya? That I don't want to see you do anything stupid?"

"Coming from a guy who just recently called me a 'challenge'? YES. It is _very_ hard to believe, actually." Reffy circled around the desk, cards in hand. "This doesn't have anything to do with me not kissing you the other night, does it?"

Spot narrowed his eyes. "Why the hell would I care whether or not I kiss ya!"

"You tell me!" Reffy retorted. She realized how loud she was being, and quickly lowered her voice. "Look, Spot… You're Jack's friend, and another leader. You could get any girl in this city, so stay away from me, got it? We're friends – that's it."

Taking a step closer to her, Spot stared into her eyes. "Admit it, Ref. You're a liar."

"You're so stuck up, you know that?" Reffy said disgustedly. "You can't even accept the fact that one girl doesn't want you!"

"Then why'd you kiss me, huh?"

"That was before!"

Spot laughed. "Before you randomly fell in love with Jack!"

"No one said I was IN LOVE with Jack! Just face it, Conlon – me and Jack are together! I want to be with him! We care about each other, and an asshole like you can't do anything about it."

Spot quickly took another step closer. "Listen to yourself! This ain't some fairytale, Ref."

"- Then stop living in your fantasy world and face reality! There actually ARE some girls in this world who don't want you. I don't know what's gotten into you, but you need to stop."

He took another step closer, making Reffy take a step back. "Why?" He asked calmly, taking another step.

Reffy backed up again. The look in his eye caused the breath to catch in her throat. "Why… Why what?" She breathed, taking another step back when he came closer.

"Why do I need to stop?" He kept confidently stepping forward. "Why stop when you really don't want me to?"

His smirk almost made Reffy sick. "I want you to." She stated clearly, looking up at him with determination. It was hard to seem confident when she continued stepping back whenever he stepped forward. She didn't want him that close.

"Oh, so now you want me to?" Spot slyly replied, his smirk turning into an amused smile.

"I said I want you to stop, asshole. Don't put words in my mouth!" Reffy looked around the empty room and went to step around him. Spot stepped forward to block her way.

Reffy clenched her fists. "You're going to get us BOTH in trouble, and I'm sick of this! Move or I'll do it myself!"

Spot let out a sigh of frustration, looking down at her again. "Don't worry, a'right?" He said in a deep whisper, stepping closer again. "Jacky boy will never know, and we'll both be satisfied."

Reffy swatted away his hand as he tried cupping her face, and took another step backwards. "You're old news, Conlon." She sneered angrily. "I've ALREADY kissed you, but I _still _picked Jack."

Another challenging look appeared in Spot's eyes as he took a swift step towards her. "Yeah, we'll see who you pick…" He reached out to grab her waist.

Reffy immediately jumped out of his grasp, but knocked into a small corner table behind her. The only sound that filled the room was that of shattering glass as a lamp tumbled to the ground, the shard remains spreading around the room. The unexpected noise caused Reffy to scream, jumping with alarm.

"Reffy! You okay!" Racetrack came bolting down the stairs once he heard her scream, followed by the other newsboys who were startled by the sudden commotion. Racetrack stopped dead in his tracks once he reached the bottom of the stairs, his jaw dropping when he saw who she was with.

Reffy stood a few feet away from Spot, covering her mouth with her hand. The look on Racetrack's face told her everything, and she found herself unable to move. Spot, on the other hand, was rubbing his forehead. He silently cursed himself, knowing something was going to happen.

"What happened! What the hell was –" Jack had pushed through the other newsies and now stood next to Racetrack, stopping mid-sentence as he took in the scene before him.

Reffy saw Jack and the room became silent. The muscles in her hand became loose and the whole deck of cards splattered over the floor.

Jack was tough, and despite his friendly attitude – no one would dare to fight him. When he got mad, Jack Kelly could look so dangerous that even the bravest men would be frightened. The dangerous look on Jack Kelly's face at that moment was unlike anyone had ever seen before.

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**Sorry for the cliffy! I'm writing really long chapters though, huh? Hopefully they're not boring you or anything! Just went through a bad break-up, so I'm sorry for the wait. The next chapter takes place right after this one. It's written… So let me know what you think!**


	37. Ending of a Friendship

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from Newsies, but I own the rest.**

**A/N – Once again, if you have the time, I'd skim the last chapter… In case you forgot all the details.**

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It was a surreal feeling; as if Reffy's worst nightmare was happening right in front of her eyes, and there was no waking up from it. All week, it was the one thing she feared would happen; Spot trying to talk to Reffy again, and Jack catching them.

It took a moment for Jack to take a deep breath, leaving the room in complete silence as everyone waited for what was to happen next. The shock on the newsies faces on the staircase was obvious. Spot was supposed to be on the roof with Ruby, and Reffy was supposed to run downstairs to grab a deck of cards. Now there was broken glass scattered on the floor, and the only occupants of the room were Reffy and Spot.

Taking his final step off the staircase, Jack quickly switched his gaze to Reffy. "You okay?" He asked in a deep voice.

Reffy swallowed hard and nodded her head. Then, Jack turned to Spot. "Why aren't you on the roof?"

Spot shrugged, attempting to lighten up the situation. "Ruby was bitching and I climbed down to clear my head," He answered. "Just walked in and saw Reffy, that's all."

"That's all?" Jack asked, narrowing his eyes in disbelief. "How about you explain this to me," He pointed to the broken lamp, never turning away from Spot.

Reffy saw the anger in Jack's eyes, and finally stepped forward. "I knocked it over by accident." She blurted out.

Jack put up his hand to keep her quiet, and continued looking at Spot. "I want_ you_ to explain it to me." He said to him.

Spot wrapped his fingers tightly around Reffy's wrist. "Stay out of this, Ref. I can answer." He said as he pulled her back, causing her to wince in pain as his grip bruised her skin.

Jack left the bottom of the staircase and grabbed Reffy away from Spot. "What are you thinking! Don't fucking touch her like that!"

"Whoa, hold on, Jack – calm down for a second," Racetrack said, being the first to speak up from the crowd.

"What am I thinking!" Spot asked, raising his voice. "I'm just protecting her, so relax!"

"Yeah, I know exactly what you're doing to 'PROTECT' her, Spot." Jack yelled, tightening his grip on Reffy's arm.

"Stop it! Both of you!" Reffy yelled, pulling away from Jack and rubbing her arm. "It's a stupid lamp, Kloppman will buy a new one!"

"What, you're mad that I'm telling her to be careful around you! C'mon, Cowboy - you actually think you're gonna stay with this girl?" Spot asked Jack doubtfully, ignoring Reffy once again. "We all know you ain't capable of doing that, so I'm doing you a goddamn favor!"

"You trying to break me and Reffy up is a fucking FAVOR!" Jack exclaimed loudly.

"I _am_ doing you a favor… 'Cause while you have your fun, I'm doing your job and looking out for her!"

"No one needs to look out for me!" Reffy defended herself, only to be interrupted by a furious Jack.

"So seducing her is how you look out for her!" Jack nodded his head at the bewildered look on Spot's face. "Yeah, I fucking know everything, Spot, so DON'T even try acting like some angel."

The whole room listened intently, and Reffy's jaw dropped. She pulled Jack backwards and pounded her fist on his chest, angry and embarrassed that her personal life was being spoken out loud. "Shut up, Jack! JUST SHUT UP! Stop talking to him and let's go upstairs!"

"Yeah, Jacky boy… Shut up and go upstairs." Spot provoked, smirking with amusement.

Reffy whipped her head around. "Keep your fucking mouth shut, Spot! For ONCE, just be quiet!"

Spot nonchalantly looked away from her and kept his eyes on Jack. "You're making a big mistake, Cowboy. The last thing you need is a fight with Brooklyn because you're overprotective of some girl."

"That's enough!" Reffy screamed, pulling Jack away again.

Jack violently cracked his knuckles, not affected by Reffy's attempts to move him. "If you kept your hands off of her then I wouldn't have to fight you!"

One of Spot's newsies nervously stepped forward. "Uh, Spot… Maybe we should just leave… Give you guys some time to calm down, you know?"

Spot gave him a quick glance, and then turned back to Jack. "Listen up, Kelly…" He started. "You been risking your neck for this girl since we was kids. Six years now. You'd think after six years you'd learn."

"Learn _what_?" Jack asked fiercely. He was holding Reffy's wrists to restrain her once she tried stopping him again, but looking over her head to see Spot. No one else had the guts to stop the two most powerful newsies in the city, so all they could do was watch.

Spot rolled his eyes. "Learn that you can't afford to take care of no one but yourself. Look what taking care of Reffy is doing to ya!"

"What are you talking about!" Reffy asked, turning around and narrowing her eyes at him. Spot's threatening glare softened when he looked at her, suddenly getting the urge to just cover her ears so she didn't have to hear them fighting. He took in a deep breath, deciding to ignore her, and turned back to Jack.

Jack, anger still rising, took offense to his comment. "You out of all people should know that Reffy can take care of herself, so why the hell are you changing the subject!"

The tension in the room was almost painful as Spot continued. "You been trying to protect this girl since you helped her out of the joint. Well, you ain't no fucking saint, Jacky-boy. We all know you ain't capable of being with one girl." Spot explained calmly, although his eyes were set ablaze with anger. "You're gonna make her another one of those girls on your list, and she's so used to being protected that it'll kill her when you decide you're done."

Reffy went to scream a reply from the backround, but Racetrack roughly covered her mouth. Meanwhile, Jack laughed ironically at what Spot just said, unable to believe his ears.

"C'mon, Spot. Who are you to talk! You have a girlfriend and sleep around with the whole city!" Jack pointed out, raising his voice with every word. "And since when are you so interested in looking out for Reffy, huh? Did that start _before_ or _after_ you made your move on her? Sorry, I'm just a little confused here and you might have to explain it to me." He said sarcastically, his eyes challenging the Brooklyn leader standing in front of him.

From the corner of his eye, Spot saw Ruby huff up the stairs. She obviously came down from the roof once she heard the fight. Ruby was the least of his worries right now, and he quickly shook it off. Pulling out his cane, Spot's eyes remained fixed on Jack's as he glared daggers. "You're letting one girl come between our territories, Kelly." He warned, beginning to circle the Manhattan leader. "You sure you want to do that?"

"That's outta my hands, Conlon. You did it yourself." Jack replied accusingly, not bothered in the least by Spot's challenge.

Reffy gasped from beneath Racetrack's hand. The Manhattan and Brooklyn newsies all seemed shocked at the events unfolding in front of them. Never, in a million years, did they think Spot Conlon and Jack Kelly would be in a situation like this. While most boroughs would stick behind their leader in a fight like this, the newsboys in the room did not. Both Manhattan and Brooklyn looked at each other in confusion, all unable to believe what was going on in front of them.

Racetrack's hand fell from Reffy's mouth, hanging limp at his side as the two leaders sized each other up. Everyone watched with bated breath, waiting for the fight to breakout.

Trying to find her voice, Reffy snapped back to reality, and furiously pushed her way forward. "Don't you dare!" She yelled, standing in between the two. "How could you fight over something so stupid!"

"Reffy – I said stay back." Jack said sternly, his eyes never leaving Spot's.

Reffy sighed with aggravation. "You two and your Goddamn pride! Don't do this!"

Spot ignored Reffy's presence, a smartass smirk suddenly appearing on his lips. "You know, Jacky boy… I don't know why you'd care that I kissed Reffy." He started casually. "You mess around with Ruby, we all know that – so why not let me return the favor with _your_ girl?"

Fear rose in all that were watching. Jack's cheeks flushed red from the anger he was trying to control, and Spot was putting him over the edge.

Making sure Reffy was out of the way, Jack took a step closer to Spot; his height towering over the Brooklyn leader, but both of them equally as intimidating. "Take that back." Jack demanded through his clenched teeth.

Spot gripped his cane tighter. "What if I don't? You gonna hit me?"

"Jack, just go upstairs!"

Racetrack pulled Reffy away and restrained her arms behind her back. "You're gonna get hurt." He said in her ear, trying to stop her struggling.

"Race, let go! Make them fucking stop!"

He kept her trapped, trying to keep his voice relaxed despite his own nervousness. "Just shut up and stop fueling it, Ref. I'm serious, calm down."

Spot's eyes flickered to Reffy, then looked back up at Jack. He shook his head in pity. "I hope bedding a virgin is worth it, Jacky boy."

That was it. Jack had finally snapped.

In the blink of an eye, a strong fist collided with Spot's eye. The Brooklyn leader faltered, and almost lost his footing from the impact of the punch. He raised his cane in the air, but Jack caught it before any damage could be done. His other fist pounded into Spot's stomach, causing him to double over.

Reffy felt lightheaded; as if this was all a dream that she'd wake up from at any given moment. One of those dreams that you laugh about, because it couldn't possibly happen in real life. But this wasn't a dream. Jack had struck another leader.

Before Jack could get anymore shots in, Spot recovered and dodged another punch; sending a swift hit to Jack's jaw. All of this happened in seconds, the shocked newsies around them unable to react as quickly as their leaders.

Jack was able to send another punch to Spot's nose before they were both restrained. Reffy felt the room spin around her, blocking her ears as the screams and yells turned into ringing. She closed her eyes and felt sick to her stomach, realizing she was never going to wake up from this nightmare.

Finally opening her eyes, she came back to her senses and saw the two leaders struggling against those who held them back. Both were screaming beyond recognition. It took three Manhattan newsies to hold Jack back, and Spot was restrained by two of his own.

It was chaos. Nobody could calm them down.

"GET HIM UPSTAIRS!" Racetrack yelled to the boys holding back Jack. "AND GET SPOT OUTTA HERE. NOW!"

"I ain't leaving until this is finished!" Spot yelled, blood dripping from his nose and his lip swollen from splitting open.

"SHUT UP, SPOT!" Racetrack yelled, but Jack cut him off.

"LET ME FUCKING GO!" He ordered his boys, but no one would budge.

"Jack!" Reffy yelled, pushing through the crowd to get to him. If anyone could calm him down, it was her.

Jack elbowed Blink and started forward to Spot again.

"JACK, PLEASE!" Reffy yelled, her voice breaking as tears rolled down her cheeks.

The newsies continued frantically grabbing a hold of Jack, but he stopped. Still keeping a firm grip on his arms, the Manhattan boys looked at each other in confusion.

Being a leader was about respect; respect from their followers, and respect from fellow leaders. That kind of power, even over a bunch of street rats, is strong enough to ruin even the closest of friendships. But for a reason Jack couldn't explain, one thing was able to stop him.

He caught Reffy's eye and saw her tears. She sniffed, telling him to stop by shaking her head desperately. Her brown eyes were pleading him, and he saw the fear that racked her whole body.

Jack relaxed in the hold of the other newsies and took in raggedy breaths, staring down the Brooklyn leader struggling in front of him.

"Get out." Jack demanded sternly, glaring coldly at Spot.

Spot yanked out of the grip of the newsie behind him and wiped at the blood on his nose. "This isn't over, Kelly."

"You're damn right it's not over," Jack retorted angrily, causing Skittery and Mush to grab onto his arms again.

Sensing another fight coming on, the large Brooklyn newsie that stood behind Spot nervously spoke up. "Uh, Spot?"

Spot put up his hand to silence the newsie, his eyes locked on Jack. The Brooklyn newsie kept his mouth shut as silence engulfed the room again; the only sounds being the ragged breaths of the two furious leaders.

Without another word, Spot's stormy grey eyes turned to Reffy. She kept her head down to avoid his gaze as her cheeks turned red with shame and embarrassment. With a wave of his hand, Spot motioned for his newsies to follow him as he turned on his heel. The Manhattan newsies remained quiet as Brooklyn left, waiting until the front door was closed after the last newsboy stepped into the dark streets.

* * *

**I'm going to apologize in advance – I edited this at 4am during one of my insomnia nights. Fun, fun, fun! Anyway… Thank you so much for the feedback! It keeps me going so I can finally finish this sucker. It's been far too long, so you'll see an ending fairly soon. Probably four more chapters. I love all of the reviewers, you're the best!**


	38. All of New York

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from Newsies, but the rest are mine.**

* * *

Jack saw his newsies scattered around the room and on the staircase; all of them staring at the door in an obvious state of shock, trying to soak in everything that just took place in front of their eyes. All had witnessed the breaking point of an 'unbreakable' friendship; a brotherhood, and the crumbling of a powerful alliance between two boroughs.

"Upstairs!" Jack ordered loudly. No movement was made as jaws remained open, and eyes wide. "NOW!" He demanded louder, not noticing the way Reffy jumped at the harshness in his voice.

His yell had startled the boys, ripping them from their disbelief as they began marching up the stairs in a rush.

Still holding onto the desk for support, Reffy hastily wiped the tears from her cheeks, also trying to register what just happened. Once the room became empty, the only sounds that echoed off the walls were the distant voices and stomps of feet from the bunkroom upstairs.

Jack stared at the door, his cheeks flushed with anger as he breathed quickly through his nostrils. The fast pace of his heartbeat pulsed through his whole body, causing his fists to shake with restrained fury. It took every muscle in his body to keep him from running out the door to attack Spot. If it wasn't for Reffy, he would've done it in a split second.

Reffy tried steadying her breathing, but it was no use. The burning in her eyes refused to go away, and the silence of the room hurt her ears. Nervously moving her eyes to Jack, she had to bite her lip to keep strong and fight away the tears threatening to fall again.

"Jack…" Reffy choked out in a shaky whisper.

Running his fingers roughly through his hair, Jack continued staring at the door.

"God damn you, Reffy."

"Don't." She shook her head, wanting nothing more than to curl into a ball and disappear forever. This wasn't her; this wasn't the Reffy she worked so hard to become. Her reputation was ruined, and replaced with the reputation of being weak. She felt like a joke. A burden to Jack. An embarrassment to herself.

"Why is it so hard for us to be together?" He asked unexpectedly. "If we love each other, it shouldn't be this hard!"

"You didn't _have to_ fight Spot!" Reffy yelled. "It was your decision to be stupid and act so damn jealous! You're only making it harder on yourself!"

"This whole _relationship_ is making me look stupid!" He replied angrily. "How do you think I'm gonna feel when all of New York hears about Jack Kelly and his girlfriend problems, when we haven't even been together that long?"

"Well, all of New York needs to mind their own business! I don't care what they think!" Reffy screamed, trying her hardest to keep herself together. It hurt more than anything to hear Jack say these things to her.

"You have no idea what I'm talking about, Ref," Jack said bitterly, casting her a quick glance. "People don't know you as much as they know me."

Reffy sighed hopelessly. "I know a lot of people _know you_ Jack, especially after the strike. And I know about your pride, and how important it is to you, but I'm sick of hearing about it."

Jack turned away from her and walked over to Kloppman's desk.

"Don't ignore me, Kelly!" She yelled, but he pretended not to hear her. Unable to control herself, Reffy ran over and forced him to look her in the eye, grabbing onto the bandana around his neck.

"I'm not finished, asshole!" Reffy yelled, standing on the tips of her toes and pushing him into the desk. "Do you even realize what happened tonight!"

Jack ran his fingers through his hair, rolling his eyes impatiently, but Reffy tugged harder on his bandana.

"Now is _not_ the time, Reffy." He spat, adjusting the bandana once she let go of it.

"I don't care – you're going to listen to me." She ordered, her mind still racing from what happened.

Jack crossed his arms over his chest and let out a long, annoyed sigh.

Reffy took this as a sign to continue, so she took a deep breath and lowered her voice. "Look, I know how Goddamn happy you are when strangers from other boroughs run to shake your hand, finally meeting the _famous_ newsboy who stood up for them all last year during the strike…"

"Where are you going with this, Ref?" He asked, tired of hearing her voice at the moment.

"- And 'all of New York' might adore you, Jack – all those kids who were affected by the strike might know your reputation, and listen to the dumb stories and rumors that are whispered through the streets, but know what? Those are the _least_ of your problems! Who cares what _they_ think!"

"_I _fucking care!" Jack interrupted loudly, causing her to jump.

Reffy narrowed her eyes, refusing to let them water again. "Then our _relationship _isn't what makes you look stupid," She said. "You make _yourself_ look stupid… Severing your ties with Brooklyn tonight made you look stupid."

Jack pounded his fist on the desk angrily. "Why the hell are you defending him right now! I was protecting you!"

"No, Jack, you were just causing more trouble! And now I know that causing trouble is more important to you than I am!"

Jack paused and stared at her like she was crazy. Reffy felt crazy, but needed to explain herself; even if it didn't make any sense.

"I apologize if I make you look stupid," she remarked sarcastically, her voice sharp with anger. "But what you did tonight was wrong, Jack. You fought with one of your best friends over JEALOUSY – not love."

Jack's cheeks were a dark shade of red. "He was trying to steal you away from - !"

"So you should've trusted me enough to know it would never happen!"

Jack gave up and used his sleeve to wipe the sweat from his forehead. "Just go upstairs, Reffy. I mean it. Go upstairs."

Reffy thought about the fight with Spot, and felt the guilt rush through her whole body. "Jack…"

He looked down at her, still trying to calm down from the fight. Reffy saw the anger building inside of him and let out a short sigh.

"I know you have too much pride to apologize," Reffy started calmly, staring into his eyes. "You worry about what other people will think…" She took a step closer, practically begging him with her look as her voice got weaker. "But_ I'm_ the one who loves you, Jack – not all of New York. Shouldn't you care about what_ I_ think instead?"

Jack couldn't rip his eyes away from her and pursed his lips together. He wore a mask that hid all of his feelings; but Reffy saw the stubborn look in his eyes, and already knew the answer.

"I'm not backing down, Reffy." He spoke defiantly, shaking his head. "I'm not backing down on this one."

Reffy slowly crossed her arms, looking away from him. "Yeah," She replied just above a whisper. "I know you won't… No matter what I say." She admitted, knowing him all too well.

A hint of a smile came to his lips. "I care about you, Ref, but this has to happen. Spot can't think he's got control over me."

Reffy still didn't look at him. "What are you gonna do?"

"It's nothing you need to worry about, a'right?" Jack searched Reffy's face for a reply, but she only glanced up at him. "Just stay out of it and let me take care of things. Can you do that for me? Just this once?" He pleaded.

There was no way Reffy was going to stay out of a fight that she started. It was her fault Brooklyn and Manhattan were on bad terms, and now it was her responsibility to make it good again.

Reffy took her time to answer, licking her bottom lip uncertainly. Her eyes slowly made their way up his body and into his pleading eyes.

The second they made contact, a trace of understanding lit up Jack's face, and his stomach dropped. He knew her too well. Her eyes just told him everything.

"I'm not backing down either, baby." She challenged, confirming his fear.

Jack scrunched up his eyebrows, angry at her stubbornness. "You really think you can help! There's no helping now – it's too late! I just _broke_ the alliance we had with Brooklyn, Ref!"

"No, you didn't." Reffy replied sternly, not wanting to hear a word of it. "You didn't break anything. It was just a fight. Plain and simple."

Jack walked by her with his hands in his hair, feeling the frustration build. "It's not that easy!" He yelled, letting go of his hair and turning to face her.

"Yes, it is!" She argued, staying in her place. "You've gotten into plenty of fights, why should this one be any different!"

"Because I'm a leader! Manhattan is my territory, and I just kicked another leader out of it!"

"Okay, relax…" Reffy said, noticing his cheeks flushing red in anger once again. "It'll be taken care of, but right now you just need to relax. We shouldn't talk about this now… You need to cool off."

"Yeah." Jack replied half-heartedly, scanning the room to occupy his mind with something else. "I'm sorry. Let's drop it for now."

"Yeah," She practically whispered in reply, looking down to her feet. "Too much happened tonight…"

A few seconds later, Reffy heard Jack silently curse. His eyes had turned downward, noticing his bleeding knuckles. A pile of freshly cleaned towels sat at the end of the desk, and Reffy rolled her eyes remembering when Kloppman had asked Racetrack to take them upstairs earlier that day before he left to go upstate.

Reaching to grab one, Reffy turned to her boyfriend and put a small pout on her face. "Does it hurt, baby?" She asked sympathetically, grabbing his bleeding hand by the fingers and holding it up.

"Just stings." He pathetically responded.

"Stings?" Her pout disappeared as she roughly pressed the towel onto his tender knuckles. Jack yelled out in pain as his freshly cut skin was rubbed hard with the piece of worn cloth. "Good, you deserve it!"

"Jesus Christ, Ref!" He exclaimed in a sudden outburst, pulling his hand from her grasp. "What the hell is your problem!"

"You and your stupidity!" Reffy answered loudly, throwing the slightly bloody towel at his chest. She then turned on her heel and stomped across the room to the staircase.

"Ref, c'mon!" Jack whined at her retreating figure, biting his lip at the pain.

"Goodnight, sweetie." Reffy said in an overly-gentle voice as she stomped loudly up the stairs, not looking back at him once. She heard the newsboys scurrying to their beds and sighed, wishing this night never happened.

"Hey, you okay, Ref?" Racetrack asked as he approached her bunk once she sat down.

"What are we gonna do?" Reffy whispered, pulling him down to sit next to her.

"There's nothing we can do. It's up to the leaders now."

"Leaders? You mean Spot and Jack?"

Racetrack shrugged. "Yeah… And the other leaders."

Reffy raised her eyebrows in surprise. "What do you mean?"

"If Brooklyn and Manhattan are on bad terms…" Racetrack started, keeping his voice quiet. "Then the other leaders have to decide whose side their on, ya know?"

"There are no _sides_!" Reffy exclaimed.

Racetrack shushed her and rolled his eyes, looking around to make sure no one was listening. "Look, just go to sleep and we'll do something about it tomorrow…"

Jack came upstairs and went straight to the washroom, probably tending to his fist. All eyes followed him, looking away once he shot a warning look into the bunkroom.

"Is there anything we _can_ do?" Reffy asked in a whisper, looking from the washroom back to Race.

Once again, Racetrack shrugged. "It depends on what Jack decides to do… We just need to make sure he doesn't do anything dumb."

"Too late." Blink added as he walked past Reffy's bunk.

"Shut up." Racetrack and Reffy shot at him, getting a smirk in return from Blink as he went to his bed.

"What do you think he'll do?" Reffy asked, glancing at the washroom again to see Jack wrapping up his hand.

Racetrack let out a hopeless sigh. "I wish I could tell ya, Ref." He said. "But when it comes to you, who knows what Jacky boy will do."

"Why the hell would he do something so stupid because of _me_?"

"This _started_ because of you, Ref…" Racetrack answered. "But now it's not about you anymore; it's about who's in charge. They'll both be too stupid to back down."

Reffy narrowed her eyes at Racetrack. "I know that." She said obviously. "But the least you could do is lie to me so I can feel better."

Racetrack smirked as Reffy pushed him off the bed.

* * *

**Getting closer and closer to the end… Could it take me ANY longer! Sorry for dragging everything out so much! Let me know what you think – I'd really appreciate it. Big shout out to Chill92 for keeping me on my feet and reminding me about updating! Thanks for the reviews everybody!**


	39. War

**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters from Newsies, but I own the others.**

**This story will be finished within the next few chapters. I'm so sorry for leaving it abandoned for so long. I know I've lost a lot of my readers, but I want to thank you for the support I've received during my 'break' from writing. Reading the reviews has inspired me to continue – thank you so much.**

The day after the disastrous poker night with Brooklyn started off normally – everyone forcing themselves to act as they usually do.

The fight between Spot Conlon and Jack Kelly was a scary thing. The tension was thick in the common room as they woke up the next morning. Reffy woke up and watched Jack get ready out of the corner of her eye.

However, it was unusually quiet as the Manhattan newsies made the usual trek to the distribution center from the Lodging House. Racetrack and Reffy were having a whispered conversation as they walked through the gates.

"What now?" Reffy asked her best friend in confidence. "What happens now?"

"I don't know…" Racetrack replied. "Spot and Jack have always teamed up against any tension between the boroughs. Manhattan being in a fight with Brooklyn is bad."

Reffy ran her fingers through her hair; letting out a long, tired sigh. She placed her hat on her head and watched Jack as he spoke quickly to Kid Blink. They were a short distance away, by the entrance to the street. Jack finished up his conversation with Blink, and then let his eyes search the distant crowd of newsboys. He finally found Reffy on the ramp and looked at her.

"I think he's planning something," Reffy said quietly to Racetrack, her eyes still locked with Jack.

Racetrack followed her gaze and watched as Jack gave Reffy one last longing look before he started walking away from the distribution center.

"He's going to meet up with some other leaders, I think." Racetrack explained as Jack disappeared.

Racetrack and Reffy briefly discussed whether or not they should skip selling so they could follow Jack. However, Racetrack pointed out that Jack would strangle them both if he caught them spying.

In the end, they both headed to the harbor, reading the headlines as they walked. Reffy couldn't focus on the words. She found herself going back to re-read sentences that she had read without registering what they were actually saying.

Reffy had decided that she wouldn't let this rivalry happen. It had started because of _her_. She didn't want Manhattan and Brooklyn to fight. But now it was a question of reputation – and it would be difficult to stop them. She would have to, somehow, figure out a way to end this peacefully. She was thankful that she had some time to think it all through.

It took a while to get into 'selling mode' that day, but they both were able to do the best they could.

Reffy had about 10 papers left when she stopped to catch her breath. Screaming the headlines and walking around had been more tiring than usual. She couldn't keep up with it the way she could before she left for Boston. Getting sick in Boston was a memory that petrified her. Reffy tried her hardest not to think about it.

Racetrack was approaching Reffy when he saw her papers drop to the ground. She erupted in a fit of coughs.

Racetrack jogged over to her, but she waved him away, indicating that she was fine. Racetrack scrunched up his eyebrows with a worried look, but he kept his mouth shut. He picked up her remaining papers and sold them for her while she recovered and caught her breath.

"Maybe we should go back to the square, you can take it easy for a little bit…"

"No," Reffy replied, her voice a little hoarse. "I'm fine, it was nothing."

Instead of heading home, they took a slow stroll along the harbor. Kid Blink and Mush had crossed their paths as they turned around to finally head home after their walk. The boys were on their way to meet up with a few girls they had met the day before. Reffy asked Blink what Jack was speaking to him about earlier. Apparently Jack planned on visiting other borough leaders that day; confirming what Racetrack had predicted that morning.

Blink and Mush continued their way to the harbor while Reffy and Racetrack walked home. It was late afternoon now; they had spent the day away from the Lodging House to keep their mind off of what was happening with Jack and Spot.

Racetrack had handed Reffy a lit cigarette, lighting one for himself as well, when Skittery came running up to them. The leisurely day sudden turned serious as they both stopped in their tracks; the look on Skittery's face was urgent and frightening.

"Brooklyn!" Skittery yelled frantically as he approached them, breathless after his sprint. He stopped in front of them and tried catching his breath. "Jack…" He breathed, "Specs, he…"

"Calm down, Skit, breathe – what happened??" Racetrack asked.

Skittery wiped the sweat off his forehead, catching his breath. "Specs – he saw Jack with the Harlem leader and some of his boys-"

"Spit it out, Skit!"

"It's Jack –he's going to Brooklyn!"

The cigarette dropped from Reffy's hand.

"You've gotta be _fucking_ kidding me! He's gonna take care of it today." Racetrack threw his cigarette to the ground in anger. "He's gonna end the fight."

Skittery stood up straight, breathing steadily now. Reffy couldn't move.

Racetrack immediately went into action. "Skittery, grab any newsie you can find. Send them to Brooklyn. They need to _run_; we need more Manhattan guys in Brooklyn if there's gonna be a fight."

Reffy snapped out of her initial shock and was already turning back the way they came – in the direction of Brooklyn. Racetrack and Reffy both turned and ran once Racetrack barked his orders to Skittery, who had already took off to spread the word.

"Racetrack…" Reffy said his name in panic as they picked up speed.

"I know," he replied. Neither of them needed to explain their feelings any further. They were both in emergency mode, dodging people on their way back to the bridge. The sun was low in the sky, threatening to taunt them with a beautiful sunset by the time they hit Brooklyn.

The bridge was in their sight when they heard a familiar voice call their names.

"Race? Reffy? What the hell?" Blink yelled as they approached the bridge. Mush was a bit further away from him.

"Get Mush!" Racetrack yelled to him loudly. "Jack's in Brooklyn, it'll be a fight – _Hurry up_!"

Reffy pushed through a group of schoolgirls as they started over the bridge. They didn't even look back to check Blink's reaction. There was no time.

Jack was too stubborn. It made him a good leader, but it also gave him a pride that was impossible to fight. It was obvious that Jack didn't want to back out of the inevitable fight that would happen again between him and the Brooklyn leader. However, nobody knew that he'd find it so hard to wait until it happened.

Adrenaline had kept them going across the bridge at a run. But the second they reached the other side, onto Brooklyn territory, Reffy felt a painful stitch in her side. Her pace slowed as her breath became more and more difficult to manage again.

"Come on, Ref!" Racetrack urged, glancing behind him.

"I can't breathe." Reffy said in a wheeze, her run slowing down even more as she gulped for breath.

"_Breathe later!_" Racetrack yelled this time, slowing his pace so that Reffy could catch up to him. "COME ON!"

"I… can't…" Reffy wheezed, coming to a full stop so that she could try to take a deeper breath. It felt like her lungs were exploding. It was more painful than before. She stumbled over to a wagon that was on the side of the road; the horse was at a standstill while the owner of the wagon spoke to someone on the sidewalk.

Racetrack stopped running when he noticed that Reffy stopped. He backtracked and reached Reffy at the wagon. She was struggling to catch her breath.

"Jack is fighting Spot Conlon in his territory, Ref, snap out of it! Brooklyn has all of their boys on hand; it's an uneven fight if they get involved. We need to_ move_!" He yelled. Racetrack was also out of breath, but not as severely as Reffy.

She struggled, clutching onto her chest as a sharp pain ripped through her lungs. She could barely get the breath to answer him.

"Pull it together, Ref!" Racetrack was getting angry with her, trying to pull her arm.

"I _can't_. I can't fucking br… breathe…" Reffy couldn't finish her sentence; she leaned into the back entrance of the wagon to keep her upright.

Racetrack looked around frantically; then he noticed the owner of the wagon look up suspiciously at them. Fear appeared in Racetrack's eyes when he realized the person the man was speaking to was a cop.

"Reffy," He lowered his voice, keeping his eyes on the two men. "This guy's getting pissed; we need to move away from his stuff, he's with a bull."

Reffy let out a cough, clutching her side. She began to panic – she hadn't run this much since she got sick in Boston. She couldn't catch her breath. It felt like her lungs had stopped taking in enough air. It was like breathing through a tiny straw. The world started spinning around her; she would have collapsed to her knees if she didn't support all of her weight on the back of the wagon.

"Get away from there, kid!" The wagon owner yelled, approaching the two newsies. The cop was a few steps behind him.

Before Racetrack could react, the wagon owner grabbed Reffy's shoulder from behind, pulling her back. On instinct, she elbowed him in the stomach. Racetrack watched in shock as he fell back onto the sidewalk. Reffy hadn't even noticed. She finally collapsed onto her knees, her breath loud and uneven as she stared up at her best friend.

"Race…" She breathed. "Race, something's wrong. Something's wrong, I can't…"

Racetrack cut her off, grabbing her arm, when the cop nearby started towards them. "Fuck, Reffy! We need to move!"

He slung her arm around his shoulder and lifted her up, taking off in a run. Reffy frantically mustered as much strength as she could and tried moving along behind him.

The cop saw her escaping and started to chase.

Reffy wrapped her arms around herself, fear taking over as she tried to get more oxygen to her lungs. The stabbing pain in her chest was too much for her. She slipped further behind Racetrack, bending over to rest her hands on her knees. She was crying now, fearing the worst. She got a flashback of Boston; the feeling of not being able to breathe was just as severe.

Racetrack cursed loudly, slowing his run when he saw her standing in the middle of the road. Panicking, he started to turn back to pick her up. The cop was right behind her.

"Reffy!" He yelled a short distance away.

"Race – go!" She yelled as loud as she could.

Reffy felt a strong hand grab her arm and pull her back. She collapsed onto the ground, erupting in a fit of coughs. She tried to wriggle away from the hand restraining her. She saw Racetrack's petrified face, his indecision, his worry; all of his emotions in a single glance as he stood down the road. He was frozen. A look of determination came over his face and he started running to her and the cop.

"_**No**__ – get Jack_!" She screamed to Racetrack, her tone of voice making him stop. The cop had to struggle with her. She was putting up a fight.

Reffy felt close to fainting, but shot one last hard look at Racetrack. She was trying to take in another deep breath to yell at him to get out of there. The cop pulled out his baton, lifting it over his head…

There was a sharp pain. The world went blurry, and then darkness took over.

**I'll update soon – please review, any input would be appreciated. Feel free to e-mail or message me with feedback. Thank you!**


	40. Fear in a Name

**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters from Newsies, but I own the others.**

**Thank you for the feedback – it's **_**so**_** inspiring and makes me want to hug everyone. All of the opinions are great, and I appreciate you taking the time out to talk to me! I'm nearing the end – just a couple chapters left!**

-

Racetrack ran. He saw his best friend fall limp on the hard ground at the foot of the cop. Her long brown hair was fanned around her fallen head. Her face was pressed against the dirt.

Racetrack had a sudden burst of rage shake his whole body. He had run over to the unconscious girl and the cop who was standing over her. He had murder in his heart as he tackled the man to the ground. Whistles, yelling, everything was blurred together. He had noticed more of them arrive.

"_Race – Go!"_

Her voice was still ringing in his ears, but there was only one way to help her. He needed to escape the frenzy; he needed to find Jack and Spot. He needed to leave her there, fallen and finally defeated on the streets of Brooklyn.

He had to run.

Hot tears were burning his cheeks as he escaped the other bulls that had arrived during the scuffle. His left eye was swollen, his lip bleeding.

He ran as fast as he could to the water.

--

Jack Kelly ignored the Brooklyn newsboys that were around him as he stepped over the rotting wood of the dock. His murderous glare was pointed to one person only – Spot Conlon.

Spot got to his feet and watched the Manhattan leader approach him, flanked by the leader of Harlem and some of his boys. Spot narrowed his eyes, meeting Jack's glare with a look of pure hatred. He snapped one of his fingers to get the attention of some of the Brooklyn boys behind him. They came forward, as if prepared to fight if Spot gave the word.

"What is this?" Spot demanded, his voice loud enough for Jack to hear. "Want that rematch, Jacky boy?"

Jack didn't speak until he was only about five feet away from him. "You wanted to disrespect me by coming into my territory and throwing yourself all over my girlfriend. So yeah, I want a rematch."

The two infamous newsboys studied each other for a moment. Spot tilted his head slightly to the side, pulling his cane out from his belt loop. "You're making a _big_ mistake, Cowboy."

"Here are your options," Jack continued, ignoring the threat. "You can either apologize and beg for my forgiveness, or I can just break every damn bone in your body and throw you in the river."

"JACK!" A voice interrupted the thick tension. "SPOT!"

Spot's stare flicked over Jack's shoulder to the person running onto the dock in the distance. Jack turned around to see what the problem was. He almost hit his boiling point when he saw that it was Racetrack approaching. All of the Brooklyn newsboys were paying close attention to the commotion.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?!" Jack yelled at him right away.

"The bulls!" They heard Racetrack yell, pushing past anybody in his way. Several newsboys got to their feet, looking around.

Jack went to open his mouth to yell at him again, but Spot suddenly stepped up beside him. He squinted his eyes, studying Racetrack from afar. "Wait," Spot said, putting up his hand to interrupt anything Jack was about to say. "Wait, he's hurt."

"They got her!" Racetrack cried in panic, practically running into Jack when he finally got to them. "I barely got away," he tilted his head to the side to spit out some blood, "but they got her – they got _Reffy_!"

The color drained from Jack's face. Spot stepped forward, gripping Racetrack's arm, trying to keep him steady.

"We heard you were going to Spot and we ran all the way here," Racetrack's heart was beating rapidly, his shaky words stumbling out of his mouth "I tried, Jack, I swear I tried. But he hit her with that – that _fucking _stick_ thing_ that they carry around. I attacked the guy, but then another bull came out of nowhere, then another one –"

"Where is she, Racetrack?" Jack asked, his voice sounding dead, as if his insides were numb from the words coming out of Racetrack's mouth.

"Something happened, she couldn't catch her breath. You know when she said she got sick in Boston? She was serious. I mean, _**really**_ serious, Jack. She couldn't breathe! She just said something was wrong – panicking and coughing, about to pass out." He grabbed onto his hair with a tortured expression on his face as he continued his barely coherent explanation. "I tried to help her, but this - this _cop_, this _fucking_ cop started chasing us and she couldn't even run away!"

Spot suddenly turned to Jack, his face void of all emotion. His eyes, however, were fearful. "We need to get her out," Spot said. "Seriously, it don't sound too good, Jack."

Jack felt like the world was crashing down around him. He couldn't even speak; he just listened to Racetrack, barely registering the words.

"– he bashed her head, right there on the street," Racetrack continued to himself, rambling on, unaware of anything around him. "I'm _so_ sorry… I couldn't protect her, and she was out cold… She just… I couldn't –"

The thought of Reffy caught; sick or maybe even dead; made Racetrack's stomach turn. Her body lying in the street, the sound of her coughs… Racetrack doubled over, leaned over the side of the dock, and heaved the contents of his stomach into the murky water below.

--

At first, she could only register the warm, metallic taste in her mouth.

It was a familiar taste to her; it tasted like a fight. It was blood.

Then, the pain started.

The sharp stab of pain… She couldn't open her eyes. Where was she? What happened? She lifted her hand to her head, just above her ear. The tender wound she felt, the bump, made her gasp loudly.

That's when she felt the second stab of pain…

Her gasp, the sudden intake of breath, was agonizing. She could feel her lungs in her chest and in her back, stabbing at her insides with every small amount of air she took in. Her rattling breath caught in her throat, letting fear finally overcome her. Why did this hurt so much?

She tried to open her eyes. It was dark. She was on the hard, cold ground – but didn't know where. There were no stars, no lights from the streets… She wanted to lift her head… She tried, but her whole body hurt, and lifting her head had only made it worse. Why wasn't she in her bed?

Where was Racetrack? Where was Jack? …She needed Jack.

Jack. Reffy's memory was suddenly clear at the thought of his familiar face. Brooklyn, Spot, running over the bridge, couldn't breathe, a cop suddenly chasing them…

"No!" Reffy cried, her voice only coming out as a raspy whisper. She shot upright at the petrifying thought that had just crossed her mind. The world immediately began to spin. She filled her aching lungs with air and tried to steady her surroundings, holding the side of her head. She didn't recognize any of this.

Reffy was named after the place she feared most. Jack had tried so hard to prevent her from ever going back there again.

Fear filled her whole body as she struggled to breathe through the panic that had her heart racing. She wouldn't even survive the night like this. She needed him… She needed his arms around her. She needed Jack.

-

**Please review! Please let me know what you think! I'm not feeling very confident about everything, and I don't want to mess the story up!! This is so big for me – I'm finally finishing this, and I don't want to disappoint. Thank you so much for reading!**


	41. Help

**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters from Newsies, but I own the others.**

"They would've taken her to Manhattan, to the Refuge," Jack said, walking at a breakneck speed, surrounded by Racetrack, Spot, and other Brooklyn newsboys.

"No, it's after dark; they wouldn't send a carriage to Manhattan this late at night." Spot replied.

"There's no other place they would have brought her!" Jack argued, fighting to keep his voice from shaking.

"Spot??" A voice from behind them yelled out into the night, interrupting them.

"Jesus Christ, get her out of here!" Racetrack roared, turning around like everyone else to see the girl running up to them.

"Ruby!" Spot growled to the girl. "Not now!"

"Spot, what's the matter?" Ruby asked, finally catching up to them in a run. "You said you'd spend some time with me tonight!"

Spot glared at his girlfriend. Ruby was a known enemy of Reffy, and he wanted nothing to do with her right now.

He turned to one of his newsboys, "Charlie, take care of her, will ya? I don't have time for this." Charlie stepped forward, grabbing Ruby's arm.

"Spot!" Ruby argued, a pout on her face.

Jack and Racetrack had already turned their backs on her, continuing their journey back to the bridge.

"Look, Reffy got hurt in Brooklyn. She's probably in the Refuge, and she's _a lot_ more important than you tonight." Spot said, turning to go catch up with the other two. The rest of the Brooklyn newsboys followed him, leaving Charlie to deal with Ruby.

"Wait!" Ruby yelled, ripping her arm away from Charlie. "When did she get hurt?"

Spot ignored her; he heard Charlie explaining the whole situation to Ruby as he rushed away from them. Spot finally caught up to Jack and Racetrack, who were still trying to decide what they should do.

"She needs a doctor or something," Racetrack was saying, wringing his hands together. "They can't bring her to the Refuge, not in the condition she's in, Jack."

"We'll go to the Refuge and get her out - I don't care who tries to stop me." Jack sounded close to tears, his breathing heavy. "I'll kill anybody guarding those doors. I promised Reffy that I'd keep her out of there."

"I'm with you, Jacky boy." Spot said with a nod at the Manhattan leader, all traces of their previous fight forgotten. "I'll help you get her back."

At that moment, once again, they heard "Spot!"

"That _fucking_ girl of yours, Spot! Seriously!" Racetrack yelled, losing all of his patience when they heard Ruby's whiny voice again.

Spot turned and saw Ruby running his way. "Ruby, I said get the fuck away!"

"Wait, listen! She wouldn't be in the Refuge!" Ruby panted, finally reaching them. Charlie was not far behind, trying to catch up to her. He grabbed Ruby's arm again, starting to apologize for letting her get away, but Spot put up his hand to stop him.

"Wait - what are you saying?" Spot questioned her.

Racetrack and Jack weren't sticking around to find out. They started to run when they saw the Brooklyn Bridge in the distance; determined that Reffy would be in the Refuge in Manhattan. The Brooklyn newsboys remained with Spot, in the middle of the dark street, waiting for his orders.

"I'm saying that Reffy wouldn't be in Manhattan yet. If she got caught in Brooklyn they wouldn't send her to the Refuge; not at night! They'd wait until the morning."

"How do you know this?" Spot asked, his eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"My father - he works for the courts around here." Ruby replied grudgingly. "I know, Spot. Trust me - Reffy would _still_ be in Brooklyn."

Spot glanced over his shoulder to look for Jack and Racetrack. They were already long gone. He was contemplating whether or not he should follow them...

"She'd be at the courthouse." Ruby continued, pointing down the street the opposite way.

Spot put both of his hands in the air to stop her. "Wait, why should I believe you?" He asked.

Ruby seemed to struggle with an answer. "Reffy helped me once," She responded, rolling her eyes at the thought. "My father came by the Manhattan Lodging House once looking for me. She lied to him; she said that I wasn't living there. I don't know _why_ she lied for me, but she did. I hate her but I owe her."

Spot ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. Finally, he replied. "You know where they would've put her?" - Ruby nodded, so Spot continued - "If she's not there, Ruby - if you're keeping me away from Manhattan just because you're jealous - then you'll pay. You understand that?"

Ruby nodded again. Spot let out another sigh of frustration, then made his decision.

"A'right, we're going to the courthouse," He ordered his boys. "I don't know how we'll get her out, but we gotta try."

With that final order; Spot, Ruby, and the rest of his Brooklyn boys made their way to the courthouse in Brooklyn. It was fully dark when they arrived, peering around the corner of the outer walls. There was nobody standing at the entrance, but a dim light was shining through the large doors.

"She'd be downstairs." Ruby whispered. "They have a whole set-up down there. I saw it once... In the morning they'll bring her to a judge, then they'll ship her off to the jail. But there will be somebody inside the entrance..." She trailed off.

"Just one person?" Spot asked, studying the entrance. "No problem - we'll take care of him."

Spot ordered three of his boys to take care of the guard. He planned on running down to the basement to find Reffy. Spot and his newsboys climbed the steps to the courthouse, peeking through the window to see who was inside. There were three guards instead of just one.

They were about to regroup when Ruby silently approached the stairs beside him, looking nervous.

Spot clenched his teeth. "What are you doing?!" He whispered angrily. "Get back on the street -"

"I think the door to the basement is to the left," Ruby replied, ignoring him and staring straight at the door. "Go when the coast is clear."

Spot didn't have time to question her. Ruby opened the doors and approached the three men.

It was well known on the streets that Ruby was the one girl that Reffy hated most. She was a constant problem; she rocked the foundation of Reffy's whole world when she first arrived to live with the newsboys. She was the reason why Reffy started questioning her place in Manhattan. Reffy and Ruby were known enemies... Even after Reffy had helped her out when her father came looking for her.

But Ruby had owed Reffy a favor. So Ruby entered the courthouse and approached the men inside... She was going to turn herself in, finally ending her father's search.

Spot spared one last awed look at Ruby before he snuck inside and disappeared down the stairs to the left of the courthouse.

* * *

Reffy had no idea how long it had been since she woke up in this place. She was in agony; everything hurt. She slipped in and out of consciousness. The blackness of sleep made it easier to cope with the throbbing pain in her head and the sharp pains in her chest.

Her ears were still ringing with the memory of the police whistles. Images were flashing through her mind; the most prominent image was Racetrack's petrified face as she fell on the street. Was he okay? Did he get away in time? Was he hurt too...?

She thought of Jack. She remembered that he was walking into Brooklyn to fight Spot Conlon. Did Racetrack get to him in time? Was Jack hurt? Did he get to Spot? Was Spot hurt?

It was too much to think about. She didn't even know where she was. She had never seen a room like this in the Refuge before...

Coughing was so painful, but her lungs choked with every breath. Hair was stuck to the blood on the side of her face. It was wet and cold. She curled into a fetal position on the floor.

Her heartbeat quickened at the faint sound of footsteps. Then the sound of a key.

Reffy escaped from the fear in her body by thinking about Jack. His eyes, his skin, his hair... _Jack_. She thought about him as her eyes closed and she fell into nothingness again.

* * *

Spot had made it down the stairs. His eyes squinted in the darkness as he adjusted to the pitch black surrounding him. The footsteps above him disappeared as the men left with Ruby. He heard talking about taking her to her father.

He approached the closed door at the end of the hallway. A set of keys hung on the cold wall next to the wooden door. His hands shook as he tried to find the lock in the darkness.

That's where he found her.

"Reffy..." He whispered, afraid to go any closer to confirm the state of her lifeless body. His eyes, now fully adjusted to the dark, studied her as he stepped closer.

Reffy's eyes were closed, but she was shaking violently.

Spot knelt down beside her. "Ref, kid, wake up," he pleaded, touching her cold forehead. His fingers were wet with the blood that spread from the wound given to her by the police baton.

Reffy stirred, shaking even more. She started coughing again; her body convulsing with every uneven breath.

Spot snapped out of his shock and tried to pick her up to get her out of there. He hauled her up the stairs, pausing to make sure the coast was clear.

He ran outside to meet the Brooklyn boys.

"_Run_ to Manhattan," Spot ordered one of the smaller newsboys waiting outside. "Find Jack - tell him I have Reffy and I'm getting her out of Brooklyn before they come looking for us."

The Brooklyn newsie took off down the street. He was one of the fastest runners Spot had. It took just a moment before he had disappeared into the darkness.

Spot, surrounded by the other Brooklyn newsies, began their journey in the same direction. They remained in the shadows, aware of every noise around them.

* * *

Reffy felt strong arms wrapped around her, her body bouncing with each step as if she were being carried.

She tried opening her eyes. Then she opened her mouth to speak. Only one name came to her tired and cloudy mind…

"Jack?"

Spot faltered when he heard the whisper of the girl in his arms. He could feel the eyes of his newsboys watching them.

"You're safe, Reffy." Spot whispered his reply, quickening his pace. "I'm taking you to Jack right now. You're safe, honey. I promise."

Reffy didn't remember anything about the long journey to Manhattan. She didn't remember arriving at the Lodging House in the arms of an exhausted Spot. She didn't remember the doctor arriving well before dawn. She didn't remember the strange medicines given to her, or Racetrack cleaning the blood off of her face.

And she didn't remember the tears that landed on her cheeks when Jack cried over her body that night.

* * *

**One more update, one more chapter. I'm happy I came back to finish this story! Thanks for all of the support – please review!**


	42. Home Again

**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters from Newsies, but I own the others.**

Reffy felt the harsh glare of sunlight glowing through her eyelids. She wanted to open her eyes but it hurt to even think about it. She felt a dull throbbing on the side of her head, and heard familiar quiet voices around her.

She finally opened her eyes and saw that she was back in the Manhattan Lodging House, and even though it made her feel safe to be home, she had no idea how she got here and what had happened. The last horrifying memory she had was being in a dark, cold room with the dawning realization that she may never see light again...

Reffy was trying to piece everything together when Jack noticed her awake.

"She's awake," he murmured quietly to the boys around him, then shot up from his seat and knelt down beside her bunk, "She's awake. Thank God, Reffy…"

"I don't... Wait," Reffy stumbled over her words, not seeing who was beside her. Her throat scratchy and dry, "I need him, I need Jack -"

"I'm right here, Ref, I'm here." He said, running his hand in a soothing motion over the bandage wrapped around her forehead. "Everything's okay. I'm right here."

She recognized his voice, and her heart longed to be close to him. She lifted her hand to grab his shirt, struggling to pull him nearer. Jack complied, resting his head on her pillow, his knees still on the floor. He kissed her cheek as his hand went to the other side of her face. He let his thumb glide down her opposite cheek before he smoothed out the long hair that hung below the white gauzy bandage on her head. "Close your eyes, honey," he whispered into her ear. "Stay relaxed, don't overdo it."

Reffy grabbed the hand that was on her face and held onto it. "You - you went to Brooklyn..." Reffy said, looking up into his hazel eyes when Jack lifted his head off the pillow. "You went to Spot, and then, I..." A sudden thought came to her, "Race," she breathed. "Racetrack."

"Hiya, Ref!" Reffy turned to see her best friend, his head upside down and a smile on his face as he hung from the bunk on top of her. "Took you long enough! Welcome back to Earth, ya lazy bum."

Jack grabbed a pillow from behind him and tried throwing it at him. Racetrack pulled himself up in time to miss the impact.

A warm feeling ran through Reffy's body; she was home, in Manhattan, with Racetrack and Jack safely by her side.

"You were hit," Jack explained, his hand back to caressing her cheek after he threw the pillow. "The bulls got to you, when you came looking for me..." He had a look of shame in his eyes, blaming himself for all of this mess.

Racetrack jumped down from the top bunk and sat on the bed by her feet. "You scared me, kid. You couldn't breathe - I thought you weren't gonna make it." The smile slowly dropped from his eyes as he spoke. "Then you got into a scuffle with that guy, and that copper hit ya with that stick when we tried to get away..." He gazed at the wall behind her, lost in the memory of the previous day. Then he looked back at her face, a hint of his previous smile returning to his lips. "All those years of running from trouble, you and I, right? And it finally caught up to us. Never thought I'd see the day when you'd be taken down like that, Ref. Believe me, I'm so sorry I couldn't get you away fast enough..."

"I remember," Reffy replied softly, slowly sitting up, Jack's hand on her back to assist her. "Running... I hadn't run like that in so long... And when I got sick in Boston... I just, I couldn't catch my breath. There's nothing you could've done, Race. Don't be sorry." Her voice was still raspy, but Kid Blink walked over with a glass of water. She drained the whole thing, the cool water soothing her parched throat.

"I was so stupid, Ref," Jack said, rising from his kneeling position on the floor so he could sit beside her. His arms wrapped around her, and she closed her eyes at the feeling of his strong protective body, her head resting in the nape of his neck. She had wanted nothing but to be with him when she was afraid. "I thought I could get to Brooklyn without any of you finding out..." Jack said, his voice reverberating through his body as her ear pressed up to his warm skin. "I should've known you'd try and stop me."

Reffy opened her eyes and let her gaze wander around the room, seeing all of the familiar faces of Manhattan around her.

It turned out that most of the newsies forfeited their selling that day to see if Reffy would wake up. She scolded them, but was ultimately happy to have them all by her side.

Later that day, Jack disappeared down the stairs for a moment while Racetrack told Reffy the whole story of her rescue.

"Ruby did that?" Reffy asked in shock after hearing the story. "She turned herself in? Back to her father? To distract the workers away from where I was...?"

Racetrack nodded, still finding it hard to believe that Ruby would do something like that, especially for Reffy.

"Wow..." Reffy said to herself, staring down at one of the cuts on her arm. "Who would've thought, you know?"

"I know." Racetrack replied. They were both on her bunk, sitting cross legged opposite each other on either end.

"And Spot... He's really the one who -" she struggled for the right word "- _saved_ me?"

Racetrack smirked, picking at a fray at the bottom of his pant leg. "Yea," he answered with a chuckle. "Strange city, ain't it? People surprise you every day."

Reffy nodded in agreement, still pondering the story of her escape.

"You know," Racetrack continued, looking up at her, "Spot was at the docks, probably two seconds away from starting a fight with Cowboy, when I told them... And they just froze." Racetrack gave her the smile he always had when telling her one of his amusing stories. "Looking back on it, it was probably the _only_ thing that would've stopped that fight."

"Spot Conlon..." Reffy said to herself, shaking her head still at the irony of it.

"Saved your life, Ref." Racetrack said matter-of-factly, his thankful voice full of respect.

Racetrack glanced over to the stairs a few moments later. Reffy followed his gaze and saw the two leaders, Manhattan and Brooklyn, stepping up into the bunk room. The sight filled her with relief; Spot Conlon and Jack Kelly, side by side once again, like it should be.

Jack winked at Reffy and headed over to a small table to join some other Manhattaners in a card game. He clapped Spot on the back before he walked away, leaving the Brooklyn leader on his own at the top of the stairs.

Spot slid his cane into his belt loop, his eyes on Reffy as he looked at her from across the room.

"He spent the night in Manhattan with some of his boys after he brought you here last night," Racetrack said so only Reffy could hear. Race then nodded his head up to Spot to greet him. Spot nodded his head back to Racetrack as he began walking towards them. Racetrack playfully slapped Reffy on the knee as he stood up, leaving her alone to speak with Spot.

Reffy watched his expression as he approached her. Spot Conlon had his flaws, but he was true to Manhattan, and true to Jack Kelly, when it meant most. Reffy knew that she had grown out of her childish 'crush', but the Brooklyn leader had a permanent and lasting place in her heart.

Spot gave Reffy a warm smirk, shaking his head. "Always the troublemaker, Ref," He said with a hopeless sigh.

Reffy returned the smile, "Always." She agreed.

Spot snorted with laughter, attempting to keep a straight face but failing to do so. He adjusted the hat on his head, taking a moment to study her warmly, and broke into a real smile. He wasn't the type to get soft easily. "Be good, kid." Spot said before turning to walk away.

"Thank you," Reffy called after him. Spot paused to look at her. "Thank you, Spot. Thank you."

Spot remained silent for a moment, smile lingering on his lips. He tipped his at to Reffy before disappearing back down the stairs.

Reffy stared at the staircase where he had just left. She knew he'd be back eventually; anxious to throw back a few drinks or gamble away his pennies with the boys, but for now he was back to running Brooklyn the way he did best.

Reffy turned and caught Jack looking at her. He gestured over to Snipeshooter, who was unsuccessfully trying to keep up with the poker game, and rolled his eyes for Reffy's benefit. She laughed.

Jack had gotten her out of the Refuge many years ago and got her into a life on the streets. The fights, tears, scars, ink stains, and paper cuts were well worth it to her. In Reffy's mind, there was nothing better to her than the life of a Manhattan newsie, hands down.

"Oh, hey, Ref," Racetrack called to her, walking back over to her bunk. "I forgot - I swiped this for you this morning," Racetrack said in a lower voice, reaching into the drawer between their bunks and handing her an apple.

Reffy took the perfectly red apple from her best friend, eyeing it suspiciously. "From the _corner_ market?"

"Nah, the good place. The stand near the park." Racetrack said with a wink.

"My favorite one!" Reffy smiled. "That vendor _hates_ us. He didn't pull out his walking stick when he saw you, did he?"

Racetrack opened his mouth to answer, but was interrupted.

"A'righttt, stop it, the _both_ of you." Jack said as he approached them, sitting on the bottom bunk next to the bed where Reffy was resting. He leaned forward, his elbows on his knees, head in his hands; massaging his temples as he spoke. "I ain't kidding around. I don't wanna hear anymore stories about you two stealing. No pissed off vendors, no '_walking sticks_', nothing."

"Okay, Jack." They both said, looking at each other as they answered him with the same tone they always used when he reprimanded their stories from the street.

Racetrack hid his laughter as he walked away to join Skittery, Snipeshooter and Kid Blink in another game of cards.

Reffy adjusted her position on the bunk, watching as Jack kept his head low in his hands, fingers still on his temples.

"He just got me an apple, Cowboy." Reffy said, holding up the apple for Jack to see.

He looked up, his eyes warming once he caught her eye. "Well, he didn't get _me_ one. I'm in charge around here, I mean, don't that count for _something_?" Jack commented, smiling when Reffy laughed at him. He leaned forward to grab the apple out of her hand so he could shine it on his sleeve.

Reffy still couldn't believe how lucky she was to be back in Manhattan; safe with the boy who was so famously in charge of it. Jack leaned in further and moved his lips to hers, giving her a gentle kiss before handing the shiny apple back to her.

Reffy was content; Jack Kelly, the person who had given her so much already, had now given her his heart. It was more than Reffy could've ever wished for. His warm hazel eyes lingered on her face and she found herself lost in the happiness only love could make you feel.

They both heard someone barreling up the stairs, but their eyes stayed locked on one another, neither of them wanting to look away.

"Hey, uh..." Mush was now standing at the top of the stairs now after running up them, "Fellas?"

Jack finally broke eye contact with Reffy to look over at Mush.

"There's a girl here." Mush announced.

This caught Reffy's attention. She turned to look over her shoulder and saw a petite girl with shoulder length brown hair appearing next to Mush.

"Well, I heard Manhattan takes in girls. Is that true?" she asked the room, her tough exterior and attitude showing that she was no stranger to the streets. This made Reffy happy; she wouldn't be able to stand another girl who acted the way Ruby had.

"Maybe," Jack answered her question. "Why?"

"I want to sell newspapers in Manhattan," the girl replied, realizing that he must be the one to answer to around here.

Everyone looked over at Jack, but he only smirked and turned his gaze to Reffy.

"What are you staring at _me_ for?" She asked, laughter in her voice as she faced him. "I'm not in charge around here."

"Well, come on, Ref," Racetrack answered, walking over to lean up against her bunk. "You got pretty mad about Ruby, didn't ya? We don't wanna make that mistake twice."

Reffy met Racetrack's amused stare, then looked over at the girl. She studied her for a moment before speaking. "As long as she don't steal my bed or my boyfriend, I don't care."

Racetrack laughed at the memory of Reffy stealing her bed back from Ruby. Jack stood up, stole the hat off Racetrack's head, and tossed it over to Reffy before he walked over to speak to the new girl at the top of the stairs.

Reffy placed Racetrack's hat over her bandaged head and took a bite of her apple. It didn't matter to her who joined Manhattan anymore. Nobody could take her boys away from her, and _nobody_ was going to take her place.

Reffy knew in her heart, finally, that nothing could change her place in Manhattan. Ruby had taught her that jealousy was a stubborn and useless emotion that would only hurt you more in the end.

Reffy looked back on all of her memories with Manhattan. She had grown up a lot since Jack had gotten her out of the Refuge all those years ago.

Racetrack interrupted her thoughts, stealing his hat back off Reffy's head. She threw her half eaten apple at him as he ran away laughing...

Luckily for Reffy, she hadn't grown up _too_ much.

* * *

**Final Authors Note: **

**This story was created and published in 2002! I stopped updating for a long, long time, and every once in a while I'd read the reviews and messages that were still pouring in during my absence. I always wanted to come back and update. I lost many readers when I stopped writing, but I also gained many readers when I came back to finish it. All of you have been amazing! The feedback, emails, reviews, support - it has always been overwhelming to me. I'm proud of myself for coming back to continue writing after such a long break, and I'm really happy to have some really great people who take the time to read it. Thanks again, all of you, for giving me the inspiration to continue doing what I love!**

'The End'

**- Reffy**


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